Altered Reality
by KingWombat
Summary: Could he fight? Yes. Was he a fighter? No. Jaune Arc was a scholar researching the most exotic life on Remnant. Until one day the Headmistress of Beacon came to him with an offer; join my school, and I will give you knowledge beyond your wildest dreams. All he had to do was train to be a hunter in a school with 80% female population and barely any men, what could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So this is my first fanfic as I decided to try my hand at writing one. You might notice that I drew some inspiration from both other writers and outside media like Mass Effect and Monster Hunter.**

 **I hope you enjoy the fic. Further notes at the end.**

 **Disclaimer: Neither RWBY nor any other media shown in this fic is owned by me; all credit goes to their respective creators.**

" speech

' Jaune's thoughts

^ announcement over speakers, radio, etc.

 _Odo speaking to Jaune_

 **Thoughts of other characters**

* * *

^Welcome to Beacon. You all have been chosen to attend this prestigious Academy for your skill and accomplishment. You should take pride in attending school where you will further your knowledge and train to be the protectors of humanity for the future generations. Once the airship arrives please head to the auditorium for orientation.^ Once the robotic announcement ended across the intercom, the future prospective students started to file towards the exit. Some still gawked at the sight from the windows, but as the ship docked even they moved to leave. Only one person lagged behind, preferring to stay behind the crowd and not get washed up in it. Once most of the teens got off the airship he made his way to the exit as well. As soon as he stepped out of the airship he took a big breath, glad to be off of it.

Stretching them to alleviate the tension and stiffness gained throughout the not too comfortable travel, the blonde boy took a few more deep breaths, appreciating the fresh air. The bright sun shining down did a good job to show off his attire. While a lot of Huntresses, and even Huntsman, worse their gear slightly to give off their fashion and show off, he preferred efficiency when it came to armour. If it looked good, then that was just a bonus, and in his not so humble opinion it did ok. Legs clad in synthetic black leather with black metal shin and knee guards; his arms were much the same except without a metal guard. Some light shoulder pauldron came around his shoulder and connected to the armour by his chest, which separated into smaller joined ones by his abs. There was a black sash connected from his left to right hip behind his back, falling down to his thigh. The whole black armour had some accents in gold, while there was some silver running up the back along the spine. Over his heart there were 2 golden arcs, akin to an emblem. But what stood out most of all was the red fox curled around his neck.

'Ah Beacon, the most prestigious school for up-and-coming Huntresses, and finally Huntsman.' Jaune said with a wide smile. _And filled with roughly 80% women, and that's my low guess._

'I know, but I need to socialise with others besides, Opal gave me a great opportunity to further my knowledge in a relatively well controlled environment?' Jaune thought to Odo happy that he finally was able to get out a bit. 'Besides, this way I might be able to make some friends finally.'

Suddenly a loud explosion rocked the courtyard, causing Jaune's companion to be instantly on-guard. _What were you saying about well controlled?_ Jaune just rolled his eyes at this. 'At ease, we're not in Mistral.'

Jaune looked on waiting for the dust to settle, while Odo, slowly started to lower his head. _You can never be careful enough, especially with women, especially Huntresses. And no we're not and as long as I have a say in it we never will be._ Finally he put his head down but kept one of his blue eyes open. He wasn't Jaune's guardian for nothing; he'll be damned before he let anyone hurt him.

'I know but still, they aren't all bad. Remember-' Odo suddenly started growling. _I swear to Oum Jaune if you even say her name I'll bite you. There is only 1 woman outside of the family that I'm willing to tolerate and it's definitely not her._ Jaune just sighed deeply, Odo really didn't seem to be letting go of that grudge.

Jaune proceeded to watch as a haughty looking girl dressed in all white yelled at a smaller girl dressed in black and mostly red. 'Wait, isn't that Weiss?' he asked her. Wasn't too hard with her distinct looks and dress; plus the suitcases with her emblem scattered around her helped. 'Reckon I should go help and diffuse the situation?'

 _Do you want her to start going on and on about engagement and how good the 2 of you would be together and..._

'Ok, ok, I get it, point made and taken.' Jaune nearly put his hand up in mock surrender, but remembered that he was in public and would look a bit crazy, so he just continued to look at the scene that unfolded. Suddenly a raven haired girl with a bow interfered and seemed to piss Weiss off even more than she was already, causing her to storm off before she herself turned and walked away, leaving little red in a crater.

Jaune made his way over to her. 'Let's try and make at least 1 friend'. Odo just huffed at this. _I know you have an open view but it doesn't really sound like you to be actively trying to befriend a girl. Especially after that-_

'Don't call her anything, let's just move on. I came here to both study and have some real friends. Doesn't mean they have to be all male.' he finished communicating across before stopping and looking down at the girl. Who was just lying on the ground with eyes closed and groaning and muttering something.

"Rough first day?" he asked smiling down at her "or deciding to take a nap?" Jaune added while chuckling a bit. The girl just opened his eyes and looked up at him and her eyes suddenly went wide, before she jumped up.

"Y-y-you're a guy." She said in near disbelief looking at him. Jaune just started looking himself over before looking back her. "Yeah, last time I checked that was the case, unless something suddenly changed." His eyes suddenly hardened a bit. He might be more open to girls, but he was under no illusions about them. And how they could look at them.

"Or is that a problem?" hearing that the girl started to panic and wave her arms in front of in a comedic manner. "No, not at all, it's perfectly fine that you're here at BeaconIwasjustsurprisedthatIalreadyseeaguyhere." She fired off the end of the sentence so fast that Jaune was barely able to keep up and she ran out of breathe. _I gotta say her social ineptitude is kind of endearing._ Odo chuckled inwardly to which Jaune just rolled his eyes.

"Ok, first of calm down, second, don't forget to breathe, and thirdly, don't worry about." His look softened a bit. "As long as you meant nothing by it we're cool." He said while extending his hand. "the name's Jaune Arc." The girl seemed stunned for a bit before taking his hand and shaking it furiously like his life depended on it.

"Ruby Rose, it's a pleasure to meet you." She said beaming. 'Oh I bet it is, please let me be wrong and don't be in it for the name and my gender.' He thought hoping he could make an actual friend who was in it for more than just the aforementioned two. He really was tired of people coming after him like a piece of prime meat; doesn't matter how much his family vetted the candidates, every marriage interview sucked. At least they never forced him, he had it better than some, or rather most.

Ruby was the one who decided to break the short but awkward silence. "Sooo, I have this." She reached behind her back and took out what looked like a box but suddenly unfolded into a giant scythe. With a built-in sniper? _Wow an oversized gardening tool for a weapon? She's ambitious I'll give her that._

"Scythe with built-in sniper?" Jaune asked, not noticing how Ruby's eyes widened. "Oh my God, you noticed!? Usually I have to explain it to everyone." She exclaimed a bit too excitedly, before hugging it. "She's called Crescent Rose and is my baby."

"One of my sisters is an engineer and is always working on different projects, including weapons. Spend enough time around her and she rubs off on you." He replied chuckling and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Not as much of an expert as she is, but I have my moments."

"Really? You must have something really awesome as a weapon." Now this made him smirk. Jaune didn't think of himself as a vain, nor did he like to boast, but he did take pride in his weapons, for 2 reasons. 1 he thought it was awesome, and 2 it was a joint project with his genius of a sister; they had fun bonding while making it.

He pulled out a black hand gun or rather hand cannon from how it looked. Long, slick squared body with a similarly black handle and trigger; the only part not fully black was the revolving chamber which was silver but had bluish colour coming from it as did the end of the barrel a bit. He held it out to Ruby so she could take a closer look.

"This is my hand gun/cannon, called Re Ruptor (reality breaker). It's made of a reinforced titanium alloy to withstand even the strongest rounds. Except the chamber and barrel which has aurovnium laced in with it. It can fire nigh on any round, but my preference is high calibre, which is especially handy considering the recoil nullifier installed." Jaune looked up from his handgun to Ruby who was practically drooling.

 _Okay, that's a bit creepy._ quipped Odo. 'Agreed' thought Jaune before he started to snap his fingers in front of Ruby. That was enough to snap her out of her stupor as she looked up from the gun to him before back to the gun, then back to him.

"D-did you say it has aurovnium?" she asked in disbelief. This just made Jaune smile, if just this was enough to overload her than wait till he shows her his other weapon. "Yep" he popped the p while beaming.

"B-b-but that's super rare, and hard to work with, and expensive, and, and..." Jaune decided to do her the courtesy of finishing her sentence. "and a super conductor for aura and the strongest known metal? Yes it is. Any other questions about it?"

"YEAH!" she practically screamed at him. "You mentioned a recoil negator! How? How!? How!? I've been working for ages to be able to find a way to accurately adjust Crescent Rose's recoil and you're saying you can negate it. How!?" she screamed and panted being out of breath again.

"Okay first off, calm down. Again. Second, it was my sister's invention." After holstering his weapon back Jaune decided not to show off his other one, he didn't exactly want to break the girl. Or be tackled and bombarded by more questions. After seeing her visibly calm down he decided to tackle another rather pressing issue.

"Hey Rubes, I think we should get going before we miss the assembly." He said before starting to move in the direction of the hall. The reminder was enough to bring Ruby back to her normal, well normal for Ruby state. "Oh my God, we can't be late. Which way Jaune? We have to hurry."

"That way." He said pointing towards a big building in the distance.

"Thanksletsgo!" she said before shooting off in a shower of rose petals leaving him dumbfounded. 'I assume that's her semblance. Still though, I'm better.'

Jaune suddenly saw Ruby enter the auditorium a bit out of breath, deciding to prank her a bit he casually strolled over. "Hey Ruby, what took you so long?" he asked with a grinning. The look on her face was priceless.

"But you, here, what? How?" she asked in disbelief. Tapping his chin with his finger Jaune looked up before meeting her gaze again. "Secret. Also I think someone is calling your name and waving for you." He said motioned to a muscular blonde in the distance.

"That's my sister Yang. I'm gonna go talk to her. See you later Jaune." Ruby said her goodbye before disappearing into the crowd. Jaune just let out a deep sigh. 'There, that wasn't too bad now was it? Told you they aren't all bad.'

 _No, you can never be too careful. And she actually wasn't trying to get together with you. Most likely she doesn't recognise your name, otherwise it might be different._ This made him smile. 'I suppose you're right, but let's give her the benefit of doubt.'

Leaning against a pillar in the back Jaune waited for Opal to come on stage, he could practically feel people eyeing him. Didn't matter to him too much, it was already ingrained in him enough by his family, 'Don't trust women'. Something that his mother, grandmother, and even sisters told him; and after they explained everything he could understand why. Especially after the stunt 'she' pulled.

Jaune was pulled out of his musings when he heard Odo growl. 'what's wrong Odo?' he asked wondering what got his companion/guardian so worked up. _Look on stage_ the fox replied not taking his eyes away. Following his instruction Jaune looked and was surprised for a moment before he felt a myriad of emotions grow within him.

There, right on stage, next to Opal herself, stood Glynda Goodwitch. 'Well I'll be, she really is here.' Feeling movement on his shoulder his hand shot up and he grabbed Odo just in time before he could jump off and do something that both of them would regret later. 'We'll take care of her later, but causing a commotion now would be bad.' This didn't seem to please the fox too much, but he settled down none the less.

 _Fine, better you solve it then I. I'd be much less diplomatic about it then you_ the fox said through their mental link before putting his head back down. It was going to be a long day tomorrow and with his nightly guard duty, getting some sleep would do him good. With that sound reasoning, the fox started to slowly nod off.

Jaune suddenly felt a tug on his arm, looking in its direction he noticed Ruby standing there with the blonde from earlier. She was clearly taller than Jaune even though he himself was no slouch, well considering he was a man, but what really stood out was her long and beautiful flowing hair. Sure she seemed to have a killer body, but Jaune was not one to objectify anyone. He sure as shit wasn't going to be like them.

"See something you like handsome? The name's Yang Xio Long, but just call me Yang." She introduced herself flirtatiously while giving a wink. Jaune just smiled and extended his hand, even though he was mentally rolling his eyes.

"Jaune Arc, nice to meet you. And yes, your hair is rather beautiful." He said still admiring it, and judging from the look on her face that wasn't the answer she expected, but the blush indicated she liked it none the less. "Well I do try to take care of it." Yang said suddenly bashful from the compliment. 'wow, that was easy, guess she expected me to fold like a lawn chair cause I'm a man'

At this point Ruby seemed to have had enough of being ignored the piped in. "what do you mean try!?" she asked flailing her hand about comically. "You spend about an hour on your hair. Every day!"

Yang just flipped her hair back dramatically "Well of course Rubes, gotta keep it nice and tidy so pretty boys like Blondie here will notice me." This just earned a cute pout from Ruby, which only intensified after Yang ruffled her hair. Suddenly they heard a small snoring sound, which caused the 2 to stop and look at the Jaune. As he was clearly awake they looked him over to see the fox's chest slowly rising and lowering while cute little snores came out.

"Umm, Jaune?" Yang asked tentatively while looking at the red scarf. "Yes Yang?" he asked raising his eyebrow wondering what caused their sudden change.

"Why is your scarf snoring?" This just resulted in him blinking owlishly at them.

"What scarf? I don't have anything around my neck other than Odo here." The fox snored adorably again as Jaune scratched his head lightly. The 2 girls however just looked shocked. "Wait, you're telling me that that is an actual fox and not just a pelt or decoration on your armour?" Yang asked incredulously.

"Well yeah, why wouldn't it be?" he asked like having a fox around his neck is the most natural thing. The 2 girls just looked wide eyed before Ruby squealed excitedly jumping up and down. "oooh, can I please pet it, or play or-" Ruby was cut off as Yang placed a hand over her mouth.

"Or you can let it sleep sis. You know how Zwei can be if we wake him up at the wrong time." This seemed to calm Ruby down enough for Yang to remove her hand. "you're right" she said a bit deflated before looking back at Jaune. "But once he wakes up can I please play with it?" she asked making one of the best puppy dog eyes Jaune has ever seen. 'nice try Ruby, but growing up with 7 sisters kind of makes you immune.'

"If he is okay with it, Odo is a he not an it." Jaune clarified.

"Fair enough, come on Ruby, let's get cleaned up before setting up our things." Yang grabbed Ruby's hand and was about to start dragging her before Jaune remembered that he wasn't paying attention to the speech so he doesn't know where they'll be sleeping. "Yang, wait!" he rushed up to her. The blonde came to a stop and turned to Jaune smirking. "what's the matter, afraid you won't see me again?" this just earned a deadpan stare from Jaune.

"No, I just didn't hear where everyone will be sleeping. Could you please elaborate on the sleeping arrangements, if they were mentioned that is."

"Sure, we'll all be sleeping in the main hall." This just caused Ruby to throw her hands up excitedly. "It'll be like a big slumber party." Both Yang and Jaune looked at her and her touch childish behaviour. "A slumber party which you'll be brushing your teeth for, now come on sis, you need to considering how many cookies you eat." Without another word Yang dragged the flailing Ruby after her.

'So that was a thing, although I'm not sure I'm comfortable with having this many girls around me. Oh well, Odo will keep guard.' He thought moving through the crowd of girls many of whom eyed him. He just let out a deep sigh 'this is going to be a long 4 years.'

If he thought that he had eyes on him during the day than that was nothing compared to what happened when he entered the main hall after changing into his sleep wear, black shorts and blue and black sleeveless top. It showed off his body nicely, well that's what the girls thought, judging by the looks they gave him, someone even cat called to him. He might not have been as tall or muscular as Yang, but for a guy he was in damn good shape. Standing 5'8 with plenty of lean muscle on him, muscle that held more strength than the eyes originally let on. 'That'll be a surprise for them when they find out' he thought smiling.

 _Yeah, whatever, I know you're happy with how the enhancement turned out but we can worry about that later. For now look sharp, there are way more women around than is good for us_. Jaune just rolled his eyes at his companions paranoia, though it's not as if it was not warranted. 'You do realise that we're in a school that is monitored. There are rules.'

 _And when have rules, laws, and treaties stopped women? And how would it stop hormonal teenagers._ The fox cocked an eyebrow almost comically as he walked beside Jaune. 'Point taken, I'll stay on guard.'

Spotting a nice and quiet corner at the back of the room he went over and set down his sleeping bag. Odo just layed down next to him curling up and letting Jaune stroke his fur. 'By the way Ruby asked to play with you and pet you and what not.' This news just caused the red fox to growl, before huffing. _Fine, she seems nice enough, and I can't make a commotion if I want to stay here._

Soft footsteps were heard making both Jaune and Odo look up. They saw the same raven haired girl from earlier today, she seemed to be wearing a yukata. Her figure was slim, but clearly muscular, as was pretty much the norm for Huntresses. Hell, even Ruby might have a four pack. Jaune was merely curious what she wanted while Odo was on guard.

"Excuse me, but is this spot taken? It seems to be the quietest over here." Jaune looked her over and tried to judge her tone and facial features before sighing. "It's free, hope you don't mind the fox though." This got a curious look from her before she looked next to Jaune and saw that there was a live fox next to him.

"Of course not, I like animals." Her reply was calm with a neutral tone as she sat her bag down. _Of course she would, she's a Faunus._ Jaune just looked at Odo with a raised eyebrow. _It's the bow. They twitch, plus I can smell it. Something feline. It adds up._

'I'm not a racist Odo, you know that, nor a sexist. As long as she gives me my space we'll be fine.' He thought before taking out his Scroll. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Faunus girl taking out a book and immersing herself in it. Good he would have his peace. Looking over his Scroll he saw he had a couple of messages from his family, mostly wishing him luck and telling him to stay safe. _Aren't you gonna watch that show that you always do? Something about gamers and what not?_

'Not in the mood, maybe later. For now it seems I have a message from Saph, she says she could use my help with one of her projects. Needing my 'expertise' on it.' This just earned a huff from the fox. _Yeah, she needs that a lot._

'Ease up on her will you, she means well and it's always fun to work with her. Besides I'm mostly the only one who she tolerates in her lab most of the time and talks with.' Jaune thought trying to reason, even though he knew full well what Odo's problem was. He still shivered when thinking back to that disastrous meeting.

 _Easy for you to say, you weren't the one she wanted to dissect when she met._ the fox replied in a cynical manner. Even though he got on better with Jaune's sister recently, he wasn't overly fond of her, or the questions she raised about him. Odo head suddenly whipped around in a speed that would've probably snapped any lesser beings neck. _Heads up, hostiles at 12 o'clock._

Jaune's head shot up at this, but as soon as he noticed who it was he just deadpanned almost wanting to smack his dear companion on the head. 'That's just Ruby and his sister Yang, who to be fair you haven't met. But you don't need to refer to them as hostiles.' He thought even though he himself didn't take his eyes off of them. 'and remember, be nice, Ruby probably wants to play with you.'

 _Fine, just tell her to be careful or I'll bite._ the ever paranoid and on guard companion of his thought.

"Hey Jaune" chirped Ruby, ever happily, while Yang just held a broad smile and posture of confidence. "Hey Lady killer, missed me?" she asked cockily, albeit in a playful manner. _That's her sister? I'm willing to give Ruby the benefit of doubt, but considering how Blondie is acting I'm classing her under 'stereotypical, be wary of'._

'She seemed nice enough earlier, but I see where you're coming from.' Suddenly Ruby leaned down and extended a hand towards Odo slowly. "Hey there little fella, can I play with you?" Panicking a bit at how he would react Jaune prepared to intervene, only hoping that Odo would stay true to his word. Which he apparently did, as was evident from leaning in to Ruby's hand and allowing her to stroke his fur. This just made Jaune smile, finally Odo might be a bit more open to women.

"Just be gentle with him and don't do any sudden movements. He needs to get used to you first." He put his scroll away and decided to pay full attention to the conversation.

"So Blondie aren't you going to introduce us to your mysterious friend over here?" Yang asked indicating to the raven haired beauty. Seeing how she looked over from her book to Jaune with a sideways glance, he just gave a shrug. "Didn't really introduce ourselves, and I didn't want to disturb her reading." Apparently she appreciated this if the smile on her face was anything to go by.

"Well I don't mind disturbing" _Evidently_ came the flat reply from Odo who was still being played with by Ruby, although he didn't seem to mind too much, having gotten slightly more comfortable with her. "Name's Yang Xiao Long, and this little red head is my sister Ruby Rose. Say hi Ruby."

She just gave a weak wave and a hello in reply. "Also thanks for helping me out in the courtyard." The hidden cat Faunus just looked up for a minute before lowering her book. "Blake Belladonna, no problem." Suddenly a pregnant pause took hold, which Jaune decided to break by extending a hand to Blake. "Jaune Arc, it was rude of me not to introduce myself." After a slight moment of surprise upon hearing his name, which she didn't do quiet as good as when he heard hers, she took his hand and shook it.

"Seeing how we all know each other how about we call it a night? We need our rest." Odo hopped out of Ruby's arms at Jaune's suggestion seemingly agreeing with him. "Good point, I need my beauty sleep, come on Rubes, time to go to bed." She said grabbing Ruby by her collar and dragging her away to which she just pouted and flailed about. "I'm not a child Yang and I can walk."

"But you are my little sister, now come on. See ya later Jaune, Blake." The blonde waved goodbye while dragging Ruby off.

 _So that was a thing._ Odo thought laying down and taking up his guard post next to Jaune. Blake switched off her lamp and turned away to sleep. Jaune just calmly turned towards Blake "I won't tell anyone, but know that I don't judge people on appearances. If you want to talk about it I'll listen. Goodnight."

With his peace said Jaune turned in to sleep hearing only a faint 'Thank you' from Blake.

Waking up early was a blessing, while everyone else still slept or was half asleep he was able to go about and get ready without being disturbed. Even if he hadn't woken up early by himself he did ask Odo to get him up for this very reason. After a quick shower he decided to grab a light breakfast and seeing as he already showered and only needed his weapon he decided to take his time.

'Hey Odo, did anything happen last night while I was asleep?' Jaune asked curiously while hoping no one tried anything. _No, but I heard some bitches talking about how they look forward to 'making you theirs' while they ogled your body before they went to sleep._ The red fox growled clearly irritated. 'I'd like to see them try.'

 _So would I._ While Jaune was more dismissive and remained on-guard, Odo grinned disturbingly viciously at the thought, already imagining how he'd rip them apart. Noticing how students filed in slowly but steadily, including a very loud and very muscular and tall ginger, it was an obvious decision for Jaune to finish up and slowly make his way to the lockers.

Finding the locker room wasn't the problem nor was finding his locker. What however was the problem was 2 girls standing in front of it. One a tall, muscular red head; not as buff as Yang and definitely not as much as the ginger, but her muscle tone was obvious and with her height it gave her the very definition of an Amazon warrior, and Jaune had to admit that she was a beauty. While not being as foolish as to suddenly fall head over heels for her, he did admit that she was attractive in a way he might consider to pursue should she turn out nice enough. Nonetheless those were thoughts for another time.

Next to the Amazon beauty stood Weiss; who while definitely shorter than the red head, she had a decent enough muscle tone and her height was nearly that of Jaune. Only person he saw shorter was Ruby, but that could be chalked up to her obviously being younger.

 _Must we get the weapon, we could always just go in unarmed, given you always have your other weapon with you._ Odo really didn't want to deal with Weiss or with the unknown red head, but if Weiss was talking to her that didn't bode well. She only tended to associate herself with the more 'upper class' people or famous/powerful ones, and those always meant trouble.

'I promised Jade to test out the new ammo for her as soon as I have the chance out in the field. Besides Weiss should have calmed down since the last time we met. I believe my sisters gave her a stern talking to, not to mention she's been raised well enough to know her boundaries.' He said remembering their last meeting and how afterwards his sister mentioned that they talked to her. _Just be careful, I have a bad feeling about the red head._

Making his way to his locker Jaune decided to tackle this problem head on and try to just get through it as fast as possible. "Excuse me ladies." He said stepping between them to his locker. 'Please leave me alone, please leave me alone.' Jaune prayed while inputting the code to his locker.

"Jaune" 'Fuck!' he exclaimed mentally upon hearing his name from the heiress, whose voice seemed to be laced with happiness. "it's so good to see you!" choosing that the best option would be to quickly acknowledge Weiss and shut her down before she could go on any form of speech. Yeah, his sister's might have put the fear of Oum into her, but they weren't here now. _Good luck, you'll need it._

"You too Weiss, it has been quite a while." Deciding to stay well mannered, as always, and be a gentleman Jaune bowed a bit to which Weiss performed a small, but formal curtsey. "I'm surprised to see you here Jaune, last time we met you never mentioned anything about coming to Beacon."

"Well some stuff happened and Opal invited me." He said nonchalantly, like getting personally invited by the Headmistress of Beacon was an everyday thing. Once he closed the locker door he mused at Weiss' expression. _Oh my God, the look, that look on her face, it's priceless_ his red furred companion thought to him laughing. Weiss' eyes were wide and she was gaping like a fish.

Finally Weiss snapped out of it as Jaune finished adjusting his holster and ammos. "You got invited by the Headmistress personally?" she asked in disbelief. "Yep." He said popping the p at the end.

"That's very impressive" came a melodic voice from behind Jaune. _Was wondering when she'd join in._ Jaune stepped aside and turned to look at the beautiful red head, who now that he was up close easily showed that she was nearly a whole foot taller than him. '6'7 or 6'8 would be my guess. What do you think Odo?'

 _Well considering you're roughly 5'9, I'd say she's 6'8, so I'm thinking you should use 12'7 flag pole to stay away from her._ The fox thought after thinking it over, this red head gave him a bad feeling and he was gonna let Jaune know whenever he could. Ignoring his companion's comment Jaune decided to continue the conversation with the red head. "Thank you although it wasn't much really."

"No need to be so humble, it's not every day someone gets invited by the Headmistress herself." She said calmly while giving Jaune a warm smile. This just got the blonde boy to blush a bit at being complimented which got a both angry and incredulous response from his trusted companion. _Why the hell are you blushing!? You are NOT crushing on her, no way is that happening!_

The red headed Amazon hid a small smile at having successfully flustered the handsome boy (or rather man with the physique she was looking at) who she eyed already yesterday. While this small smile might have escaped Jaune, it did not escape his Guard who was only going to be even more guarded around her. "Thank you. I'm Jaune Arc by the way." He replied still a bit flustered while extending a hand.

"Nice to meet you Jaune." She took his hand shaking it with a smile, but to her sudden surprise Jaune's grip was stronger than she thought it would be which earned a confused look. "May I ask for your name?" this earned him an even more confused look from the girl and a dumbstruck look from Weiss.

"J-Jaune, you can't seriously tell me that you don't know who she is." The heiress asked incredulously, while looking at him slightly comically. "Not really, I mean I spent most of my time at home studying or training or being with my family." While Jaune was confused by the turn of events and Weiss was in disbelief, the amazon warrior gained a dangerous glint in her eye which again was noticed by the ever vigilant fox guardian. If the look in her eye wasn't unnerving for the fox than the even bigger smile she now wore set the complete picture. _Surely this can't get any worse._

"I suppose that's understandable then. Well let me introduce her, she's Pyrrha Nikos. 4 time Mistral Champion, often referred to as the Champion of Mistral, top of her class at Sanctum, and she even modelled for a couple of magazines." This only made Jaune whistle. "Wow, congratulations, those are quite a number of achievements."

 _Of fucking course she's from Mistral. Had to open my big mouth, and she's its 'Champion'._ Odo was more worried than anything at this point, Mistrali were nearly always bad news; especially the upper-class. And you don't get much more upper-class than being its Champion.

"Well Jaune, Pyrrha and I were just talking about forming partners and teams. I think the 3 of us would be great on a team." Jaune just wondered at this, weren't pairings random cause that's what her sister said when she came here. And while he does know Weiss he doesn't know Pyrrha, although she does seem like a nice girl. _Nope, don't even think about it, I know you were ignoring me before but I'll tell you now, this Pyrrha girl is bad news, just let the chips fall where they may._

"While I wasn't sure at first I'm starting to agree with Weiss, the 3 of us could make a good team. You already seem to know her and I'm sure the 2 of us would also get along grand." Pyrrha said with an overly happy smile, it was something akin to a kid getting their first puppy or someone having discovered the most important thing in their life. The last of which hit rather close for Pyrrha's happiness.

"Well I'm flattered, but I think selection is random and I think we should just let the chips fall where they may." Before either of the girls could reply the speaker turned on. ^Would all first years please report to the cliff side for initiation please.^ _Saved by the bell._

"I guess that's our cue, well I suppose we should go." Without another word Jaune took off in the direction of the cliffs. If he would've turned back he could've seen the hungry look in the both girls eyes, however restrained they may have been. 'I don't know what the big problem with girls is elsewhere; so far Beacon was pretty nice.' He thought to know one while musing over his recent encounters. _Damn it Jaune, don't let your guard down._ An irate Odo said to him over their link.

Once reaching the cliffs Jaune stepped on a platform that was furthest from Opal and Goodwitch while sending a quick glare in their direction before looking out onto the forest. _Alright Jaune, put your game face on. No distractions._ The red fox curled tighter around his neck and gripping on better to his outfit. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Pyrrha, Blake, and a bunch of others take positions.

He listened to Opal's instructions about their objective and their partner selection, the latter which caused Ruby to panic. 'Search and retrieve, relics North wise in ruins, partner is first person you make eye contact with. Other than the stupid way to partner up it sounds simple enough.'

 _Don't get cocky nor overconfident, you've been trained and taught better._ This just earned a sigh from the Jaune. 'I know, and if we're getting launched which I believe we are then I already have a landing strategy.' Feeling gear shift under him he focused and readied for the launch.

As soon as he was launched and felt the air rushing through his hair he started flaring his aura and moulding and willing it to take shape. At the apex of his arc he flashed white and suddenly a pair of white angelic wings of pure aura formed on his back. If he were to look back he would've seen the awed faces of the other initiates as they stared at what to them was effectively the birth of an angel. While one would consider this an exaggeration, the distance and flash gave of the image of such.

'Woo, I love this feeling, the rush, the air flowing through your hair. But onto the objective.' Taking out a compass, being ever prepared, Jaune looked in the northern direction and continued to glide that way. While occasionally beating his wings to keep himself airborne a bit longer he decided to land. After all he did have to get a partner.

Landing in a clearing purely for the sake of making it easier, not to say landing between trees was impossible, but landing in a open clearing was sure as hell easier that going through foliage and navigating to the ground while avoiding branches. As soon as he touched ground he dusted himself and stretched a bit. 'Another happy landing.'

 _I do have to say it went awfully well and easy, thought something might happen._ As if on cue growling could be heard from the trees as several pairs of red eyes glowed from the foliage. 'You were saying.' Jaune only deadpanned at Odo.

 _Sorry, didn't mean to jinx it._ Jaune just let out a deep sigh, as 5 Beowolves emerged from between the trees, 1 being an Alpha. 'Don't worry about it. They're just Beowolves.' After an intense stare down the alpha let out a great howl which prompted the other 4 to charge. Before they could move a foot however Jaune already let off 4 shots from Re Ruptor, each one being a perfect headshot.

The felling of its 4 pack members seemed to enrage the Alpha causing it to raise its head and let out another howl of rage only for it to be cut short by 2 shots tearing through its neck. As the Alpha dropped choking on its own blood Jaune started to reload his revolver. 'Dunno, but there was something satisfying about finally using it against something other than practice dummies and in spars with my family.'

 _Developing a slight bloodlust are we?_ This just earned a shrug from the blonde. Suddenly Odo perked up. _Someone's here be on guard._ The sound of clapping could be heard as the foliage ruffled and a smiling Pyrrha stepped out, locking eyes with Jaune. _I re-iterate, be on-guard._

"Congratulations that was rather impressive." The praise just caused Jaune to blush again. _Oh for fuck's sake._ Thought as exasperated Odo, not believing what was happening. "Thank you, I guess this means we're partners now."

"Indeed. Shall we proceed, I can take lead." Pyrrha just motioned forward. "Sure." Jaune didn't much mind the red head taking point, made sense, if they get into another skirmish she can be close range while he backs her up from the rear. _This is a bad idea Jaune, you shouldn't let her take the lead. It'll give the wrong impression._

'It's strategically sound choice.' He tried to reason with his companion/guard without much success. _Will she see it like that? Or will she see that she can just take charge over a man?_ This just caused the blonde to roll his eyes 'would you at least give her a chance?'

 _No_ came the curt reply from Odo, the fox didn't intend to let his guard down around the Mistrali Champion. _She might have you deceived but not me, she's bad news, and the moment she tries something I'll act accordingly._ Jaune could do nothing but sigh, Odo was his guardian here and he was only doing his duty, Jaune couldn't fault him for that.

"So Jaune, what made you want to become a huntsman?" Pyrrha asked in genuine curiosity wanting to know more about her partner and future husband. She wasn't eyeing him yesterday for nothing, he was easy on the eyes, hell, he was perfect on the eyes; he's an Arc as she found out, which speaks for itself, and from what she saw he ain't a weakling either. He's perfect.

"Oh, I have no intention of becoming a huntsman." Hearing this made Pyrrha freeze for a minute, not believing what she heard. **'He doesn't even want to become a huntsman? Even more perfect than I thought'** Pyrrha thought before continuing on and thanking Oum for her luck. "So why are you here then?" while she was happy that her now definitely crush, and most definitely future husband, didn't want to pursue that dangerous line she got honestly curious.

 _Play your cards close Jaune, and that's not just to her that's in general._ He could agree with Odo on this, not wanting to give away his real motives of being here. The deal he struck with Opal was sweet and he had no intention to reveal it. "Let's just say I have my own agenda."

If either Jaune or Odo could've seen her face they would've seen her irritation; Pyrrha didn't like having secrets kept from her by her partner **'I'll just be patient and get back to him about it'**.

It didn't take long for either of them to arrive at the ruins where Jaune noticed Yang and Blake already waiting and waving to them. Well Yang was waving, Blake just smiled and nodded. _Question does beg to be asked how they got here before us._

'We ran into Beowolves and did have a little idle chat with Pyr' this response did not seem to please the fox judging from the angry noise he made. _For fuck's sake Jaune! Already giving her a nickname!?_

"So Lady Killer, what was that trick you pulled with the wings? Cause it was awesome." The muscled and well endowed blonde asked leaning in. "I was curious about that myself." Came from Blake who apparently decided that now was a good time to join the conversation.

"Nothing special really, just aura control." Jaune shrugged it off nonchalantly, he controlled aura like this more times than he could count often even more complicated so this wasn't all that amazing to him. Sure flying was fun with his wings, but he did it enough to not make a big deal of it.

"I wouldn't say 'nothing special'. That level of control is extremely hard. Besides, those wings looked rather angelic." Jaune would've blushed, again, if Yang wouldn't have ruined the moment.

"You could say he looked like an Arc-angel, eh?" this just earned a groan from the other 3.

"You guys are no fun." The buxom blonde pouted at their reaction. This just earned a deadpan expression from Blake. "No Yang, you simply aren't funny."

They were interrupted by a loud growl as well as the sound of breaking trees as suddenly an Ursa broke out of the tree line before collapsing. "Aw, it's dead." Said the large, well muscled ginger jumping off its back and zipping to the ruins and grabbing a relic.

"Nora, please don't ever do that again." Panted a tall raven haired girl wearing green robes, doubling over for breath after rushing out after the Ursa, the magenta highlight in her hair accentuated her eyes perfectly. Unlike her partner Nora who was even more muscled than Yang, not to mention tall, this girl cut a leaner figure. Tall nonetheless, but leaner.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" asked a baffled Yang, not exactly believing what she just saw. Meanwhile the ginger haired girl zipped over to the ruins, with a speed betraying her well muscled size and build. _How much energy does she have to be able to rush about like that while being so 'bulky'?_ asked an equally baffled Odo from Jaune.

'I don't know but I don't want to find out.' He just shuddered at imaging getting a hit from her; he'd probably be okay, he and his family made sure of that but it would still hurt like hell. While the muscle bound ginger, who's apparently called Nora, was running about with the relic on her head singing the ground started shaking. Hearing the sound of trees falling over the girls started to tense up at imagining the size of the Grimm. They were brought out of their fright by the sound of screaming as what appeared to be Weiss flying through the air.

Looking around and seeing no one as Weiss flying through the air out of control, Jaune just let out a deep sigh. 'Guess I have to be a gentleman here.' He thought before picking up Odo from around his neck and setting him down on the ground. _No, no you don't, besides usually it's the women who save the prince in distress, not the other way around._

'You just want to see her crash don't you?' Jaune asked while giving his companion a deadpan look as he materialised his wings. _I'm not going to confirm nor deny that._ After letting out another exasperated sigh, Jaune jumped up and spread his wings to steady himself mid-air. As if this was planned ahead he caught Weiss perfectly in a bridal carry before gently lowering themselves down and setting Weiss on her feet while dismissing his wings.

Odo didn't waste any time in running up Jaune's body and curling back around his neck, in response he simply scratched the fox's head. Hearing footsteps, he turned around to see the others running towards him. Well Yang, Pyrrha and Nora were running, Blake and Rin casually walked being in no hurry.

With a slight blush Weiss turned to him and cleared her throat to get his attention. "Thank you Jaune, for your help." Judging by the rosy tint of her cheeks it was easy to ascertain she was flustered about both the close contact and that she was rescued a male. "If I could repay you, perhaps with a dinner?"

 _Here we go, why am I not surprised, should've just let her fall._ Came a deadpan reply from Odo that was mirrored by Jaune's expression. Before he could utter a reply however he was bombarded by a barrage of questions.

"How did you do that with the wings? Can I learn it? Are you actually an angel? And is that a real fox?" Jaune would've tried to answer any of those questions were it not for the fact that he couldn't get a word in edge wise. _Does she have an off switch? Cause now would be a good time to hit it._ 'Let's just get initiation over with.' Came an exasperated reply from the young Arc; he just wanted to get this done with, call his family, and he still needed to test the ammo.

Before he could reply to any of the questions a giant Deathstalker burst through the trees, it's numerous eyes looking at the group with hate. _'Who was the genius that pissed that thing off'_ Odo was not impressed, not at all with how this day was turning out.

"Look Rin, it followed us." Came the excited voice of the over muscled ginger, who was smiling happily almost as if to think of this as an accomplishment. _'Of course, who else, why am I not surprised?'_ came Odo's ever so sarcastic comment, with an eye roll that would be rather uncharacteristic of a normal fox. Then again, he wasn't normal by any sense of the word.

"Yes Nora, yes it did; although I don't think we should be so enthusiastic about it." Came an all too even voice of her friend Rin, acting almost like this is a common occurrence. For all their sake hopefully it isn't. 'Hey, at least I can test out the ammo Jade gave me, I suppose there's that.' Jaune thought, trying to turn a negative into a positive; even if that negative had 6 legs, venom, pincer, and was a creature of pure darkness and hate.

Looking at everyone's faces it was obvious they were all uneasy about the fight, except for Nora and Rin; the first of whom looked positively thrilled while the latter seemed simply resigned to the situation. The situation would have been comical were it not for the fact that they could possibly die.

"Rin, look at all the legs we can break" the ginger grabbed her hammer in excitement, about to leap into the fray before suddenly, and thankfully, the green robed girl put a hand on her shoulder to stop her; earning a confused look from the hammer wielder.

"How about a plan first?" came her more than valid reasoning which simply seemed to make the excitable girl deflate a bit. _Seems like she isn't used to planning and is more of a 'let's wing it' person._ Came the rather obvious observation from Jaune's companion.

"That's all nice and well, but does anyone have a plan? Just asking cause I doubt it wait around much longer." Yang said while preparing her weapon and taking stance, prompting the others to do much the same; other than Jaune that is who was simply content on reloading his gun.

An eerie silence fell where one could hear crickets chirping. Seeing, or rather hearing, more specific not hearing there being a plan, it was Blake who decided to break the silence. "Great, guess we're dying here." _She sounds so enthusiastic that I think I just got depression from hearing her._

Having had enough of waiting the Deathstalker, and their highly likely death, let out an ear piercing scream. This had the necessary effect of getting everyone to focus on the fight ahead as opposed to bickering. Pyrrha on the other hand change her position so she was standing much nearer to Jaune and ahead of him. "Stay behind me Jaune, I'll protect you." While she couldn't see it, this just earned a frown from the blonde boy. _Still thinking so positively of her?_ Of course Odo jumped on the chance to comment. Jaune bit back his retort, no point in bickering.

Just as the Deathstalker was about to move causing everyone to tense, 6 shots were suddenly heard in quick succession. One last short screech was heard as the monster dropped with nearly it's whole face, at least for what accounted for it, missing. Everyone was shocked at what just happened and turned back towards the source of the sound just to see Jaune pointing his gun with a smoking barrel towards the now disappearing Deathstalker corpse.

Lowering the gun, Jaune reached into his small satchel by his side and started to reload the gun; all the while ignoring the stunned faces of his fellow students. 'I guess I can send back a positive review of the new ammo; maybe less shots would've been enough but I had to make sure.' _Perhaps but if you would've kept a couple we could've used it later._ 'Didn't want to chance it with the others around, they were in danger too not just me. If I was soloing this then I would've felt better and easier about experimenting with it.' Shrugging his shoulders Jaune finished reloading his weapon with the usual high calibre round he uses before he holstered it. 'I can always request more.'

Looking up at the others after holstering his gun he noticed that they were still a bit shocked. _Slow on the uptake much?_ Odo ever so lovingly, and snidely, remarked earning a sigh from Jaune. "Guess we don't need a plan after huh?"

Hearing him speak finally snapped them out of their state, but before they could speak he raised a rather valid question: "Where is Ruby?"

His answer came soon enough when he heard trees crashing and familiar voice screaming. "Watch out!"he turned to its direction, just to be greeted by a red blur shooting out from between the trees and tackling him. Whatever it was came with enough speed that it sent him off his feet while knocking the air out of him.

Upon regaining his bearings, and breath, Jaune looked up wondering why he was feeling something heavy moving on top of him. Sure enough it was Ruby Rose still half dazed. Hearing a familiar growl he turned his head sideways to see Odo looking at Ruby, having been knocked of Jaune's shoulder when he was tackled. _I suggest she gets off of you before I do it for her._

"Wow Rubes, didn't know you were this forward when claiming your man." came from a smirking Yang. "hope we can share."

This earned a multitude of responses from the girls around them, Blake simply rolled her eyes, while Pyrrha glared daggers and grit her teeth, Nora was holding back from laughing, while Rin just seemed exhausted already by the day, 'I can relate' was the only thing that came to Jaune's mind seeing her. "Get off of him you dolt!"

The screeching voice of the Schnee heiress was enough to snap Ruby out of her daze; upon seeing the 'compromising' position she was in she jumped off with a somewhat adorable 'eep'. Finally free of Ruby sitting on him Jaune was able to sit up while Odo got back around his neck. "okay Rubes, care to explain wh-" he was suddenly cut off as the trees crashed and a Beringel jumped out of the forest. _If you were going to ask, why she was dashing like mad and ran into you I think that's your answer._

"I don't suppose you have any more of those wonder bullets of yours Lover boy." Asked Yang while readying her gauntlets and taking her stance, along with the others. It was clear that they were intending to take this thing head on, something that baffled Jaune to the extreme. "no but I have a plan."

"I'll shoot out its leg to set it off balance, when it falls forward to support itself Weiss you freeze it to the ground and once it's like that everyone empties everything they have into it." Seeing the the gorilla Grimm about to charge, Jaune decided not to wait for agreements and just put his plan into motion.

4 high calibre rounds shot precisely close together was enough to tear off it's right leg, with another 2 hitting the left setting it sufficiently tumbling forwards. Reflexively as Jaune predicted, it supported itself on its 2 muscular and rather oversized arms. "Weiss, now!" Not wasting anytime, she switch to ice dust and combining it with a glyph underneath the Grimm, froze it in place.

"Everyone fire before it breaks free!" that was the only order needed for everyone to unload into it. Everyone who had some form of ranged weapon shot into it until the clip was empty. After the dust settled, thanks to Nora's grenade's, the only left was a partially frozen and disintegrating Grimm corpse.

"Well that was easy enough." Came the rather monotone voice of Blake. Looking around Jaune could see that everyone was surprised. _Why is this so surprising to them? With the amount of Dust and firepower shared between us 8 this was an obvious choice of action._

"Ok, hands up who wanted to face that thing head-on." To his utter shock everyone except Rin put their hand up. _I take it back, apparently it's not so obvious._ Jaune just hung his head at this while rubbing the bridge of his nose and letting out a sigh. "Words fail me. Let's just get back."

The walk back to the academy would have been a nice one were it not for the fact that half were ogling him, which contrary to what they thought he noticed, they kept asking him questions about his aura control and semblance, and they kept bothering Odo. To Jaune's greatest surprise though, his ever so lovely companion did not bite any of them, even when Nora tried to pet him without permission; opting to simply dodge her.

"Jaune-Jaune tell your pet to stop running, I want to cuddle it's cute face." Nora kept chasing the crimson fox while pouting, meanwhile Jaune just had a slight twitch at the nickname. 'Ignore it, she might not be on your team.'

"Come on Jaune, pleeeaase tell me how you beat me to the auditorium, it's been bugging me ever since yesterday. Was it your semblance?" and there was his second source of a headache, Ruby; she was nice, kind, and pretty cool to hang out with, but a kid, a kid who couldn't take no as an answer.

"Look Ruby, for the umpteenth time, my answer is no on all accounts." He didn't like the sad and dejected look on Ruby's face, but what he wouldn't like even more is telling them his semblance and then have all of them pester him about it. However seeing Ruby sad got Yang involved, cause of course it had to.

"Come on Blondie, don't be like that. It's just your semblance she's asking for. Everyone already knows hers, she has speed, Ice Queen over there has her glyphs, so come on." At least Yang seemed to come with a reasonable approach as opposed to Ruby constantly nagging him. Suddenly he felt an arm rest on his shoulder, turning towards it he saw it was his partner, Pyrrha.

"I agree with Yang, I'll tell you mine if it helps. I mean we _are_ partners, we shouldn't have secrets from each other." Jaune already kept some things to himself, earlier she let it slide, but this time she was adamant on finding this out. **We are partners and we should be open with each other and not have secrets. If I have to tell him my semblance as well then so be it.** Pyrrha thought to herself.

This got Jaune more than irritated, but after taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly he turned to face all of them, making them stop. He was going to address this issue for good. With Nora stopping as well, Odo had time to jump back around Jaune's neck.

"Ok, let me address this issue right here and right now. My semblance is something that I keep very secret. Outside my family 2 people know, and each of them knew me for over a year at least before I trusted them enough to reveal even part of how it works. It is not something that I share lightly. I like you girls, you seem nice." _Emphasis on the 'seem' part._ Quipped Odo, sometimes Jaune really wondered how people would react if Odo would actually voice his thoughts to them out loud. He was able to, it was just a case of rather keeping it quiet, people tend to ask questions when things that are supposed to be simple animals start talking. "But fact remains that my semblance is a closely guarded and important secret. I have my reasons for not sharing, and I ask that you respect that." Thinking that he explained things clearly and reasonably, he let his words hang in the air.

Ruby was the first to speak up, albeit it still a bit sad. "Well if it's that important to you I guess I understand, everyone should be allowed to have their secrets, you just as much as me and the rest of us." She finished smiling and surprising Jaune a lot with her answer, or rather how mature it was.

"Well, if you have your reasons I'll respect that." Yang said smiling now, probably because Ruby was as well, before she turned to said reaper and looking at her suspiciously. "and you. What is this about you keeping secrets?"

With Yang interrogating Ruby and Rin having calmed Nora down, something about promising pancakes, the group was content on moving forward. Well everyone bar one Spartan that is, who moved on with the others albeit with a frown. **I guess I'll just have to play the long game.**

While most of the group didn't notice this, Odo did, he might not be able to read the red head's mind, but her face said enough. _You might be able to fool the others, but there is a reason I'm Jaune's Guardian, and you will not get past me._

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Rin, you recovered the white rook pieces, from here on you'll be team JNPR, lead by Jaune Arc." Opal turned to Jaune and smiled. "Congratulations young man."

While his friends and teammates were congratulating him, all he could do was grit his teeth. 'This is not how things were supposed to be; my time is better spent elsewhere and not planning fucking strategies, that's not why I'm here.' This was not part of their deal and Jaune was pissed, although he tried not to show it. _Should've known better than to trust her, although to be fair one would imagine at least her being a fair one._

'I'd say I'll talk to her tomorrow, but I doubt she'll change it; although it wouldn't hurt to ask.' With that planned for later, he and his team set out to their dorms which they were pleasantly surprised was opposite Team RWBY's. So according to Ruby and Nora now they were sister teams. The room seemed normal and spacious enough for 4 people.

Having finally unpacked he heard someone cleared their throat trying to grab his attention. He turned to see his partner looking at him expectantly. This made him a bit confused, was she seriously asking for permission to speak?

"You may speak, although I don't quite understand why you'd ask permission for that."

"Actually I was wondering how you are intending to sort out the dressing and changing. You're the only guy here so-"Jaune cut her off before she could finish the thought, cause she better not want him to leave the room while they change.

"Sooo there's a bathroom over there, feel free to use it. If you want to get changed in front of all of us I don't care, I grew up with seven sisters, I won't see anything that I haven't seen before; and if you're bothered by me changing in front of you I'll do it in the bathroom." He has accidently opened in on his sisters enough and vice versa to not be bothered by the female body or be bashful about his own. That said he did respect people privacy.

"Oh, that's ok, I was actually about to say I'm not bothered by it, what about you girls?" Nora had a happy smile on her face while Rin was simply indifferent and shrugged. _She wants a fucking show! That bi-_ 'I gathered as much, no need to swear, and I don't intend to give it to them.'

"That's okay Pyr, I'll change in the bathroom, it's best to respect ones privacy." This earned a sad face from Nora while Pyrrha just nodded, albeit slightly disheartened a bit at not getting some eye candy of her future husband.

With that out of the way Jaune went and got changed before flopping down on his bed and turning in for the night, soon followed by his teammates.

* * *

 **And that's the first chapter done. I always appreciate constructive feedback, and I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **I can't promise regular updates, nor if they'll be this long.**

 **A massive shout out to patattack750 who inspired me to write this fic and finally release it as well as for betaing this for me. He has great fics so check them out.**

 **If you want an example of Jaune's armour try imagining (or googling) N7 slayer armour from Mass effect.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second chapter as well as some answers.**

 **In regards to the height issue that some people mentioned:**

 **Gender biology is reversed in the sense that women are the more muscular while men are leaner. Imagine huntresses being similar to Amazoness warriors, albeit not to that extent.**

 **Every girl is taller, not just Pyrrha; even so Pyrrha was in heels at the time (which is a flimsy excuse I know).**

 **With that out of the way I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Morning came soon, too soon in Jaune's opinion; sadly for him however he couldn't ignore the alarm going off. He had to get ready before the girls used up all the hot water for the shower. Seeing them still in the bed, he was happy he decided to get up early. He preferred his mornings quiet. _Nothing happened overnight, I kept my eyes open. They were probably just too tired._ Jaune could only roll his eyes at his companion/guardian's paranoia. Not that it was unwarranted considering his teammates were from Mistral, but Jaune decided not to judge.

Getting out of the bathroom he realised that his teammates were up. "Morning, bathroom's all yours, feel free to decide on the order." Gathering his books and notebook for class he readied his bag, before sitting down and deciding to drop a short message back home, including feedback to Jade. "Did you sleep well Jaune?" came the melodic voice of Pyrrha, he looked up just to see her pull her stockings on while stretching her legs. This caused Jaune to get flustered and look away, and Pyrrha's smirk indicated that this is exactly what she wanted. _Oh for fuck's sake, could she get any more obvious. Wait I shouldn't jinx it_.

Ignoring Odo's comment, Jaune pocketed his Scroll and looked back to see his whole team just about ready. "Yes Pyrrha, thank you. Just dropping my family a message about initiation and that I'll call them later." Noticing they only had 20 minutes to get breakfast and get to class he decided that now would be as good a time as any to leave. "Let's go everyone we don't want to miss breakfast."

"To pancakes and victory!" yelled Nora while striking a pose on her bed, before jumping down and dashing out the room, leaving a baffled Jaune and confused Pyrrha behind who both just turned to Rin. "You'll get used to it." Was her only comment before following her. _Of course we get the crazy one._ Usually Jaune would've told Odo to be nicer, but as it stood he couldn't disagree from what he saw so far. The day just started though so there was still time for improvement for it. As Pyrrha followed Rin, Jaune let Odo jump up and climb around his neck before following and closing the door behind him.

On their way to the cafeteria Jaune took note on how tall and muscular all the girls were; he shouldn't be that surprised with his family being all female bar him and knowing how huntresses are known to be like this, but not going out much (or at all) limited his experience seeing them. Looking over his team it was much the same case, albeit Pyrrha being the tallest, while Nora being the most muscled. _Stop staring before they start thinking that you're checking them out._ Ever the voice of reason Jaune averted his eyes, before his teammates would notice and get the wrong idea. 'Just looking at how tall and muscled they are.'

 _And you didn't happen to stare at your partner's ass at all, even for a bit right? Despite nearly tripping, or was her uniform so alluring that you couldn't look away from its design?_ Before he could retort they arrived at the cafeteria where Nora made a bee line to get pancakes with Rin following for 'damage control'. "Why don't you find us a table Jaune, I'll bring you something as well." Pyrrha smiled before walking off with a sway in her hips. _Yep, she saw it, nice going dumb ass._

Making his way to an empty table both Odo and he noticed some stares from various girls. 'And I was being obvious?' Jaune asked looking at his companion as he sat down at an empty table. _All I'm saying is don't give the Mistrali any ideas. You know their culture and their view on men and their roles. One minute you're checking her out, the next she thinks that's permission to have you tied to her bed._ This just earned a sigh and an eye roll from the blonde, sure Mistral was traditional to put it lightly, but Pyrrha seemed nice.

Once the girls arrived back to the table they all enjoyed their breakfast with Nora telling them about one of her and Rin's crazy adventure's which Rin corrected to being a dream. Considering Nora spoke enough for their whole team collectively, Jaune found himself staying quiet both throughout breakfast and on their way to Professor Port's class. Not that he minded, he would talk to his team if they asked anything but, right now he just wanted to get a feel for how school was going to be. Once he got into the swing of things he'd participate more in team bonding.

Team RWBY burst into the classroom and took their seats behind JNPR just as the clock hit 9. 'I wonder what our teacher will be like.' Suddenly the all the chattering was cut short as the door got kicked in with nearly enough force to send it off its hinges. A burly looking grey haired man with large stomach stepped in while holding a blunderbuss-axe weapon over his shoulder. _Well he sure breaks the stereotype for men's physiques._ Jaune couldn't help but agree with Odo on this.

"Good morning students my name is Professor Peter Port, and I will be your teacher for Grimm studies. The creatures of Grimm have many names, but I just call them prey!" he yelled out in a boisterous voice. Upon hearing the lack of response he cleared his throat and decided to continue. "And upon graduating from this prestigious Academy you will too." Still no reaction. _This man has the charisma of a dried up bagel._ "But first a story about a young lad, me as I..." and it was around this time Jaune tuned him out. He really didn't want to disrespect the Professor, but he was just so boring; if he would've kept listening he would've fallen asleep. As Yang had by the looks of it, while Ruby just doodled next to her much to Weiss's annoyance. Blake seemed to be content on reading while Nora joined Yang in dream land. Looking around he could see most people either on their Scrolls or asleep, although there were a few trying to take notes to their credit, like Pyrrha, Rin and Weiss. Jaune decided to settle for something else and make notes using their textbook; it was the favourable alternative to falling asleep.

"Now then who here considers themselves to have the honourable traits to become a Hunter and is willing to prove themselves?" The Professor boomed even louder than before, while looking over the class. Despite the fact that Weiss was practically jumping out of her seat, the burly man just kept looking around until his eyes, or eyebrows, settled on Jaune. "You young man, Mr. Arc I believe it is. Why don't you come down and show us your mettle."

'I guess I've been volunteered.' Jaune thought while standing up and heading to get his weapon. Passing by them, his team wished him good luck as did team RWBY, except Nora who was very excited and asked him to break its legs. 'So why do you reckon Port picked me?' _The best I can come up with is that you're both guys._ Thinking it over, Jaune could agree with Odo on the premise that Port intended for Jaune to show off; but that wouldn't be very professional would it? Singling out a student specifically for this just to prove himself as a guy. Was initiation and the fact he's here enough for that anyway?

'Any guess what it might be that I'm up against?' Jaune asked mentally while heading onto the stage. _Judging from the size of the cage I saw? Boarbatusk or creeper._ This put Jaune's mind at ease, those could be taken down quick with a precise shot, maybe two if his aim was off. Stepping onto the stage, he noticed the size of the cage and had to agree with his companion. It couldn't be bigger than a boarbatusk or creeper. Out of the corner of his eye he saw RWBY and his team have a small flag and banner for him. _Umm, what? How and why do they have those?_

"Go Jaune, kick its butt!" sounds like Ruby was very enthusiastic about this, probably cause this was the most exciting part of the lesson so far.

"Quiet you dolt, he needs to concentrate." While Weiss seems to be less than enthusiastic about her leader.

Focusing completely on the task at hand, Jaune checked his gun one more time before aiming it towards the cage. The plan was simple, kill it before it can even start its attack; might not be fancy or give a good show to the others, but that wasn't exactly what he intended. Efficiency was better than showmanship; being efficient at taking down your enemy won't get you killed, trying to show off could.

"Are you ready Mr. Arc?" asked the portly Professor.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Came a rather flat reply from him.

With confirmation of his student being ready, Port swung down his axe, breaking the lock with it and letting the cage door fall open. A boarbatusk jumped out, fury evident in its red eyes, most likely from it being in captivity. It had its eyes already on Jaune not looking anywhere else intending to attack him. Intend was the key word here though, as it was barely out of its cage for 4 seconds before Jaune let of 2 shots dropping the Grimm. 1 would've probably been enough but he decided not to take any chances.

The entire class was quiet, probably expecting more of a fight or simply wondering how easily he beat the monster. Whichever it was didn't matter to Jaune; the Grimm was dead, and at the end of the day that's what mattered. Suddenly he heard clapping from the portly Professor followed by a congratulatory 'pat' on the back, if a smack strong enough to knock the wind out o you could be considered a pat.

"Bravo young man, bravo. We are truely in the presence of a promising Huntsman to be." Boomed out the Professor in his ever boisterous voice. Before he could continue and go on a tirade however the bell rang, much to the relief of the whole class. "Class dismissed and don't forget your assigned readings which are on the board." Considering half the class was already out and most of the rest were well on their way, it was a fairly accurate assumption that many would not do it.

 _Well that class was boring._ You know you're boring when the guardian assigned to protect you, a fox mind you was fallling asleep from your class. 'If I had a guess we were probably supposed to listen and read between the lines as they say, although why he can't just outright tell us is a mystery to me.' Accompanied by the second mystery, the dress code; they have to wear uniforms however altering or having accessories, at least to a certain extent, seems to be fine. No one mentioned Ruby's cape or Odo being wrapped over his shoulder and around his neck despite them passing by some staff members.

Coming out of the lockers after putting his weapon and armour back the 2 saw Jaune's friends, well teammates and team RWBY, friends implied he knew them well which he didn't. He didn't have anything against them per se, just because he was cautious didn't mean they can't be friends but he talked with them about 2 hours,collectively. _Hey Jaune, after classes I need to talk to you in private._

'Why can't you just say it now? Not like they can hear us.' He had no clue what Odo could want him for in private, but it had to be important. _It's important, I'll need you to pay attention to me._

'Alright, if you think it's necessary.' He shrugged before reuniting with the others.

"Oh my God, that was so cool, you gotta show me your gun again, how does it work? What rounds did it use their? And on the Deathstalker, and where can I get some? And-" Ruby's tirade of questions was cut off as Yang place a hand over Ruby's mouth. Probably for the best as the red reaper seemed to forget to even breath while shooting out those questions.

"Maybe give him some time to answer you dolt." Jaune couldn't tell if Weiss was being annoyed or condescending now, although knowing her probably both. "Although I'm pretty sure he has better ways to spend his time than with a child like you." This was enough to set the powder keg off as Yang rushed to the defense of her sister while Ruby tried to calm things down with Blake occasionally looking over to check that Yang was trying to kill anyone.

 _Glad they're getting along. Wanna make a bet who throws the first punch? I got 20 on Yang._ Jaune just deadpanned at his sarcastic and less than helpful companion, normally he might've said something, but this seemed to be something that team RWBY needed to sort out on their own. After all he wouldn't always be there to act as mediator.

"In any case it really was impressive, taking the Grimm down that fast." Jaune just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly from his partner's compliment. He appreciated the compliment even if it didn't seem much deserved. It wasn't like he took down an Alha Beowolf. "Was it though Pyrrha? Was it really? Cause let's be fair here, it was just a Boarbatusk; all I did was shoot it in his weak points using my already strong handgun. Anyone with a good aim could have done it."

"In that case impressive aim and reflexes, not to mention knowing where to shoot. Some might have just shot it aimlessly." This time it was Rin who finally spoke up today, although the last part seemed to have been aimed at Nora if her whistling and looking away was anything to go by. Before he could reply they arrived in History class and took their seats, followed by a clearly annoyed team RWBY; he hoped they'd settle their differences soon. _Here's to hoping this class will be better._

Jaune just let out a deep sigh. 'Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst' was an apt thought for this moment. Suddenly a green blur rushed in and stopped in the middle of the class, revealing itself to be a tall albeit a bit thin, green haired woman with glasses and slightly disheveled clothes. She looked more like she just woke up than bing ready to teach, the cup of coffee in her hand didn't make the imagery for it any better.

"Hello children, my name is Doctor Beatrice Oobleck and I will be your history teacher." Jaune was barely able to keep up with just the introduction at the speed which she was talking. "Today we will discuss genders and get started on society as well, maybe even culture if we have time. Any questions? No? Good." Right now Jaune was really wishing for subtitles to be a thing in real life, nonetheless at least here he was awake.

"First of, who here can tell me the link between our anatomy and history?" Looking around the class the good Doctor received nothing but uncertain looks and a couple of people unsure to put their hands up. 'Might as well if no one else will.' Class participation wasn't necessarily Jaune's intention, but seeing how nobody was confident enough to answer, not even Weiss oddly enough, and the Doctor waiting for an answer he decided to take part. Putting his hand up Oobleck noticed him faster than expected accompanied by her zooming infront of him. _What is she a hummingbird?_ Odo asked marvelling at the erratic and rapid movements.

"Mr. Arc is it?"

"It is and always will be." Well this raised a few eyebrows in class and got some looks.

"A bold statement, but can you tell me the anwer?" Asked the Doctor, leaning in a bit too much for his comfort. _No he can't, he was just waving at the ghost behind you._ Seems like Odo was on a sarcasm roll today.

"Evolution." came the answer from Jaune in an even tone.

"Correct." The Doctor straightened up before zooming down to the front of the class and writing on the board. "Over centuries our bodies evolved and adapted to suit the roles that each gender filled the most. Due to the originally low and eventually declining male birthrate, they were kept back from dangerous and often manual." She continued to write on the board with lightning speed, bringing into question what really was in that thermos of hers.

"Over time men got relegated into a domestic role while women took the leading ones including military and Huntresses. For this reason it's hypothesised that the female body developed in a way more suitable for such roles. These are the most distinguishable when looking at Huntresses; with them having a taller and more muscular build as opposed to the male which is lither with more lean muscle. Civilians also show such traits albeit to a lesser extent."

For the rest of the class Oobleck went through how the human and faunus body of each gender evolved to adapt to their roles and how society was shaled by it and in turn society contributed to shaping it. At least half the class was lost, either from how faster the Doctor talked or the topic.

"Our society still follows a mostly Matriarchal system albeit with men's right and equality increasing in recent years, especially since the Great War." Suddenly the bell rang, something that everyone was thankful for, even Odo. _Thank God, I was getting a headache from how fasthe was talking._ "Next lesson we'll be covering culture and the Kingdoms."

'Hey, I'm the one who needed to pay attention not you. Anyway let's go to the dorm before we go to the cafeteria. You wanted to talk and we have plenty of time.' Odo just nodded before lowering his head back down, inadvertently still pretending to be a scarf. "I need to go to the dorm for a minute girls, I'll meet you in the cafeteria in a bit."

They just nodded before telling him that they'll reserve a seat for him, while watching them walk away Jaune noticed something different about his partner. 'Hey Odo, wasn't Pyrrha taller yesterday?' He thought wondering why her still tall figure seemed somewhat shorter today. _You mean when she was wearing heels, which tend to add to their height?_ This made him feel like a bit of an idiot, although checking someone's footwear isn't the first thing he does when meeting them. 'Oh'

 _Yeah, my rough guesstimate would be 6'4 without heels. Now are you gonna stand here or can we talk?_ Jaune just nodded and they headed to their dorm, not that it was far. Once inside he sat on his desk while Odo jumped onto the table nearby to be eye level with him. 'Ok, so what's this about that it requires privacy. It's not like I'm gonna get mad and throw a temper tantrum.'

The crimson fox just fix him with a steady look not breaking eye contact once; Odo knew Jaune was not gonna like what he had to say but it had to be said. _You're not gonna like what I'll say but here goes; you need to stop projecting your ex onto Pyrrha._ As expected this got they boy to tense up, Odo just gave him some time to process what he heard. This was the only reasonable explanation of why he was starting to crush on the red headed Mistrali so soon.

'I think I misheard you.'

 _No you did not. I said stop projecting your ex onto Pyrrha, you need to get over her. Maybe take a break or something._ Jaune just flared his aura while glaring at his guardian, obviously less than happy about this; not that Odo was deterred, he just held Jaune's glare. 'Do NOT bring her into this, she has nothing to do with Pyrrha. You just don't like my partner.' This simply earned an irritated growl.

 _Of course I dislike her, but I'd have to be stupid not to see you drawing the similarities. Green eyes, long legs, admittedly nice ass, and being nice to you. She is behaving around you just like your ex._ Jaune hated admitting it but Odo was making correct points, and denying it would just be stupid; maybe he was subconsciously doing it? Or was it purposely? Either way he had to concede this to his guardian. 'Fine, I see where you're getting the idea from. What do you want from me, just ignore her?'

 _While I would love that, let's not kid ourselves into thinking you'll do so. So how about we meet in the middle and you slow down with this 'crush' of yours?_ Neither of them could argue with that being the best solution, Odo was not going to stop deterring him from her and he was not gonna suddenly forget about her. 'Fine, now let's go for lunch.'

Arriving in the cafeteria he looked around and found his team sitting with RWBY. They seemed to be doing well enough with Nora speaking animatedly, probably about some weird dream again. After grabbing a light and healthy lunch he joined them, apparently in the middle of Ruby and Weiss arguing. 'They really need to sort it out, they'll be together for the next 4 years.' He wanted to help but perhaps it wasn't his place to interfere unless asked. _You can't solve her problems for her Jaune, offer advice if asked but she's a leader. She needs to be able to handle situations like this. There'll be harder problems in the future, and as a leader she needs to step up to the challenge._

Jaune could only sigh, Odo was right; still, it would have been nice to help. Nevertheless if Ruby asked for advice he'd be happy to give whatever he could, she seems nice and innocent enough. Oddly enough he found the food good, he had better but he didn't expect Beacon to serve something this nice. Although considering how important it is they take care of themselves it would make sense to have a good food budget.

"Is everyone excited for combat class? I know I am." which was evident with how Yang nearly jumped out of her seat at the mention of it, followed by Nora. "Yeah, gonna get to break some legs!"

This kinda worried Jaune, surely she couldn't have meant that. Surely, but then again she is rather 'eccentric'.

"Nora, no." Rin just took it in stride, with perfect calmness. _Judging by how calm she is i bet hes already used to this._ That idea of this being a reoccurrence though sent a shiver up both their spines.

"Nora yes." was the muscle bound ginger's only reply. 'I guess it's time for me to act as leader now.' Jaune thought, hoping they lacked the social stigma of 'only women should lead' and had a progressive mind set.

"Perhaps wait with the leg breaking until someone deserves it? Sending someone to the infirmary on day 1 won't exactly give the best impressions either." This seemed to make the bubbly ginger deflate a bit but she took it in stride. Before the concept of 'leg breaking' could be discussed further thhey heard a sharp yelp from the other end of the cafeteria, where they saw the most despicable sight. A human bullying a Faunus. Bullying was bad enough, but this was racism on top of that and judgingby the look on everyone's faces at the table they all found it both despicable and infuriating.

What made for a twist on the situation was that it was not simply a human bullying a faunus, but a human male bullying a female faunus. Scratch that, it was a whole team of boys. This could go a lot of ways, but none of them good.

"Damn it, why doesn't she fight back?" Yang asked with eyes suddenly turning red.

"If we were in Mistral he'd know his place." Pyrrha caught herself before anything else slipped out. She quickly looked at Jaune noting how he wasn't paying attention to what she just said and was simply looking over at the scene with disgust. **Phew, I really need to watch what I say. Lucky he didn't catch that.** She thought before turning back; as the saying goes though 'you should never assume'.

 _Jaune-_

'I heard it, we'll address it later.' That wold suffice for Odo for now, besides there was another issue at hand.

"I believe he deserves some leg breaking." Nora moved to get up before Jaune put a hand on her shoulder, earning a few curious glances. Surely he wasn't condoning this? Which he wasn't, Jaune just knew why the rabbit Faunus didn't retaliate in most likely hood. Nora was about to say something, but Jaune cut her off before she could start.

"He does but think about it first. She doesn't do anything because in most likely hood she can't. It wouldn't simply look like an act of racism on both fronts but also a woman beating a man. I'd be willing to bet that's what the asshole is betting on."

"Still, someone should do something." A pang of sadness came to her as she remembered herself being bullied back when she was a child.

"I know Nora, that's why I will. If a guy fights another they can't call it sexism, and seeing how neither of us are Faunus he can't say racism either." With that said Jaune stood up, some panic went through the girls mixed with pride for their friend standing up.

"Not to burst the heroic bubble but that's 4v1 Ladykiller. Will you be okay?"

Jaune just gave Yang a thumbs up before making his way over. _Why are we doing this again?_ Odo asked, sure racism and sexism were a big problem and no one should condone it, but he would've preferred to lay low. He would've felt bad for not doing anything but for him Jaune was the number 1 priority and making enemies, just to maybe also get another girl interested wasn't exactly ideal.

'Because 1. it's the right thing to do 2. I'll get in less trouble than if a girl did it 3. I'm fairly sure if Nora came over than the assholeswould have some broken bones and Nora would get in huge amounts of trouble, and being the team leader I need to make sure that doesn't happen.' Reluctantly the fox guardian had to concede to Jaune's points. _Fine, just don't over do it._ He wouldn't, he had no intention of starting a huge fight. Yang was correct in her assessment of 4v1, if he starts a fight then the bully's teammates will join and while being confident that he could beat them, taking chances like that would be simply stupid. So he settled on a very simple albeit crude solution.

As soon as he reached the group he tapped the leeader's shoulder getting his attention, the ginger boy, cause calling him a man would be an insult to real men, was roughly Jaune's height, albeit his shoulders seemed a bit wider. Meanwhile the 3 stooges accompanying him filled ut the stereotype to the dot body wise, lithe, shorter than the females, and some lean muscle. Back to the task at hand however.

"Hi" ever the gentleman Jaune greeted the boy, before switfly delivering an aura infused punch to the his head. The punch had the necessary effect of knocking him out, although the fact that the ginger hit his head on the way down may have contributed to it, or not. Either way their leader was out cold, so hopefully Jaune's idea of 'cut the head off the snake and the body will die' will work. The 3 boys were dumbstruck before looking at the person who knocked out their stronger leader. "I think this is the point where you carry him away and leave."

They seemed to be more than happy to oblige picking up the bully before carrying him out. Jaune turned back to look at the stunned bunny faunus and extended his hand to pick her up, she took it with a smile and straightened her outfit once she stood. "T-thanks, although I could have taken them." She said while looking away a bit flustered. _Aww, she's a shy one, isn't that just adorable._

"But you weren't going to do anything were you? And I'll get in less trouble than you." Looking her over Jaune had to agree with Odo, even if he was sarcastic, that the girl was adorable although it might just have been the bunny ears. "Anyway my name's Jaune, nice to meet you."

"Likewise, I'm Velvet." before they could continue their conversation though, Jaune noticed the time and not wanting to be late for combat class decided to bid her farewell.

His friends caught up with him on the way there, a few them looking at him proudly and others smiling. 'They probably appreciate me standing up for Velvet.' Jaune was brought out of his musing when an arm was draped over his shoulder. Looking at it's owner he saw Yang grinning at him while leaning just a bit too close into his personal space, much to Odo's annoyance.

"Nice going back there Ladykiller, you knocked that racist bully straight out." She followed this up with grabbing his bicep and feeling up his muscles before whistling. "Damn, you got some muscles on you."

Now Odo had enough, a hug and being close was one thing, but he was not gonna let someone just feel Jaune up. Before he could bite the blonde brawler though Ruby dragged Yang off of Jaune with strength that betrays her small body. "Yang stop feeling him up."

 _At least she has some sense and decency._ It was doubly good that Ruby dragged Yang off as not only was Odo preparing to bite, but if anyone would've been looking at Pyrrha they would've seen her clenching her fists and looking rather murderously at Yang.

"Relax sis, I was just checking out the muscles he used to knock someone out in 1 punch." She showed off a grin that Ruby knew all too well and dreaded. "Causes that punch was great, it had a certain 'arc' to it, eh?" This just earned a collective groan, and reaffirmed the meaning of what Ruby dubbed 'the pun grin'.

Luckily for everyone they arrived to Professor Goodwitch's class before anymore puns could be delivered. Taking a seat next to each other the 2 teams waited for the blonde combat instructor to arrive. Jaune just scratched behind the fox's ear to keep him calm especially once the professor entered; he knew Odo was not a fan of hers.

As the esteemed Huntress stood in the middle of the arena the entire class fell silent, she had a commanding aura about her, the way she carried herself, her look, everything exuded from her gave an aura which could quite a room at a whim. Some from fear, some from respect, and others from both. It didn't matter though, to her what mattered was that the students listened and learned.

"Good afternoon students, I'm Professor Glynda Goodwitch and I'll be your combat instructor as well as teacher for aura and dust studies." She paused for a moment looking over the class to make sure everyone was listening before she continued. "Right now however we have combat. In this class you will spar with various peers of yours be it 1v1, team fights, or even certain 'wildcard' matches with stipulations. At the end of each I'll give you feedback on your performance and where to improve."

"Today we will be holding 1v1 fights. Usually either I choose or it's randomised, but today I'll allow you to choose. Any volunteers to start?" She asked scanning the crowd, seeing a boy's hand shoot up.

"Very well Mr. Winchester, who do you wish to face?"

"That asshole!" He yelled pointing towards Jaune who just raised an eyebrow.

"Language!" She reprimanded him before turning to Jaune. "Mr. Arc, unless there's a reason you can't participate please get ready for your match."

 _That boy is just begging for another ass whooping._ He had to agree with his companion; Jaune just shrugged standing up before taking Odo from his neck. 'I'll make it quick, let Nora cuddle you a bit, she's been dying to.' Not waiting for a response he gave the crimson fox to the excitable ginger who was practically beaming. "Be gentle or he'll bite." He said with a stern look which was acknowledged with a nod.

"Break his legs Fearless Leader!"

"Good luck Jaune"

Nora and Pyrrha gave him their support respectably, while Rin just nodded. Team RWBY also wished him luck as he headed to the lockers to change.

Entering the arena he already saw Cardin standing there in heavy armour with a huge mace with a Dust crystal over his shoulder while having a cocky smirk. Jaune was just indifferent while checking his gun was fully loaded.

"While I hope you read the manual you received I'll go over the basics. No dirty or illegal moves, match ends via ring out or aura going in red at 15%. Once the match is over you WILL cease attacking." She made a dramatic pause to let it sink in. "Any infraction of the rules and I will step in. Questions?"

"Yeah, what's the record for shortest match?" Asked Jaune which caused Cardin to growl and grip his mace harder, while the professor just raised an eyebrow.

"2:48 Mr. Arc. Why?"

"Just curious" he shrugged nonchalantly before adding "hey Yang! 20 Lien says I beat that."

This got the bully fuming, his face practically glowing red from anger while Yang just grinned. "You're on."

"Mr. Arc, Ms. Xiao Long, gambling is not encouraged or tolerated." The blonde witch frowned, Yang looked away sweating trying to avoid Goodwitch's ire while Jaune was unfazed.

"But it's not mentioned as not allowed." This was not the reply Goodwitch was looking for, especially considering that Jaune wasn't wrong.

"Mr. Arc, Mr. Winchester, are you ready?" Both participants just nodded.

"Begin!"

"I'm gonna ki-" Cardin was cut off by the sound of 2 sudden gunshots going off that sent the bully sprawling back onto the ground. He was wheezing heavily while clutching his throat with one hand and trying to support himself with the other. Just as he tried to stand another shot this time to his jugular knocked him back down on his back, a last shot slammed into his chest winding him again. All he could do was groan and gasp as the buzzer rang.

"Winner Arc!"

There was silence in the arena, that match was short to say the least. If there was one thing everyone learned it was that Jaune was deadly with a gun, especially his; which what many would associate with a 'handcannon' considering the stopping power of it.

Jaune was the one to break the silence with a simple question, just 1 word. "Time?"

Goodwitch just sighed before rubbing the bridge of her nose. "0:56, new record, congratulations Mr. Arc."

"Woo! Go Fearless Leader!" Nora yelled obviously happy with the outcome. Looking over at his own team and friends he could see them smiling; but what surprised him most was how content Odo seemed to be in Nora's grasp. 'Huh, need to ask him later.'

"Settle down Ms. Valkyrie. Now who can tell me what Mr. Winchester did wrong?" Ever the professional, Professor Goodwitch made sure to get back to the task at hand.

"He didn't pay attention to his opponent." Came the reply from Pyrrha. "He wanted to brag and go for intimidation, but Jaune used that window to capitalise and attack. Not to mention not taking into account how range worked to Jaune's advantage. He should've closed the gap and gone for CQC straight off."

'Thorough and analytical, no wonder she's a champion fighter. I'll need to be careful when facing her. Although isn't it a teacher's job to point this out and not the students?" Jaune shrugged while reloading.

"That's correct Ms. Nikos. Be mindful of this in the future Mr. Winchester." The ginger boy just groaned while still wheezing a bit as he dragged himself out of the arena. "As for you Mr. Arc, well done; although I hope you have planned for CQC as not all opponents will stay at range." Jaune just nodded, of course he had accounted for that, what did she think he was stupid? She really should know better. "Any volunteers for the next fight?"

Ruby's hand shot up as fast as lightning, nearly falling out of her seat. "Very well Ms. Rose, any opponent in mind?" For some reason this made her squirm uncomfortably a bit. Her team wondered where all the energy went until she spoke. "Jaune, if he is up for another."

This choice got mixed results, Jaune who was on his way out stopped and along with Goodwitch gave her a questioning look, something that was mirrored by her team and Rin, Nora was just surprised, Pyrrha frowned most likely not being pleased at her partner having to fight twice in a row, while Odo just growled a bit. "Sure, why not."

"You don't have to fight her Mr. Arc, you already had one fight." Jaune didn't know what to make of this. Surely the Professor, of all people, wouldn't be implying that he can't take on a girl. That would be just absurd. Before the blonde teacher could get another word in he just raised his hand. "I don't mind. What I just had wasn't much of a fight now was it?" Most people could agree with this.

Professor Goodwitch just let out a sigh. "Very well. Ms Rose grab your gear."

Ruby sped of with her semblance with some uncertain looks from her friends lingering on her. Personally Jaune didn't mind facing Ruby; it just meant he'd get an actual fight. Formulating a simple plan on how to take on Ruby given how much he knows about her and her fighting style wasn't too hard. However he did keep one thing in mind, 'no plan survives first contact with the enemy'.

Their were some whispers going about on the odds of Jaune winning. On one hand he beat Cardin in record time, on the other hand Cardin was a guy. While the members of team JNPR heard some of these and frowned at their leader's ability being questioned, Odo heard all of it and not just snippets. This meant that to him it was just the doubt he heard but some sexist remarks. One thing put his mind at ease though, it was the knowledge that Jaune will eventually face all of them in 1v1 combat, and when he does he'll win.

It wasn't long before Ruby arrived in the arena, her red cape flowing behind her. She readied Crescent Rose, shifting it into its scythe form, and took her stance. Jaune did the same albeit to a lesser degree, his stance wasn't so wide nor his posture tense. The two combatants just looked at each other; but unlike with Cardin who was angry and sneering with hate at Jaune, Ruby just looked determined. She was intent on proving herself, and in her mind beating the person who just set the new record would go a long way in that. She looked at Jaune as just another opponent, neither inferior or superior, just a fellow student to spar and an opponent to beat. While Jaune saw this in her eyes sadly many of the others, especially those with prejudices, only saw a girl challenge a guy for a supposedly easy win.

"Ms. Rose, Mr. Arc are you both ready?" A nod was all the answer she received, but that was enough. "Very well."

"Begin!"

Ruby didn't waste any time and activating her semblance shot out towards Jaune, planning to engage him in close quarters with her scythe. Sadly for her this exactly what Jaune wanted, all it took was one well placed shot into her foot to make her lose her footing. Dodging to the side, Jaune let Ruby's momentum carry before she 'crashed and burned'. The class could only wince at how hard Ruby hit the ground, sliding a bit before stopping. Before she could get up and recover Jaune took the opportunity to send a shot into her back and another to the back of her head. Before he could let another shot off Ruby, though still disoriented a bit, got up and lunged at him with a few lazy swings from her scythe. Each attack was easily dodged, not that Ruby was intending for them to hit, she just didn't want to give Jaune the chance to aim.

Once Ruby got her bearings back she could get back to attacking properly. This was obvious to all, especially Jaune as he now had to work extra hard to avoid Ruby's attacks with them having increased in precision and speed. He even went as far as using his gun to deflect some of her attacks while dodging. While to an outside eye it wouldn't have been obvious, Ruby was making slow progress by slightly chipping away at Jaune's aura.

Checking the aura she saw the while she was just about in orange Jaune was well into the green with roughly 90%, meaning that so far she's been chipping away at a rate of 1-2%. Seeing how Jaune wasn't even winded yet, slowly she started questioning herself and the fight. **Was this his plan all along?** She couldn't see any clear indication on his face, no smugness, overconfidence, nothing that would boast of him having orchestrated the whole thing. Yet his movements told something else, nothing was wasted, every step flowed into the next. While she was on a continuous offensive he simply flowed from parry into a dodge, than another parry before dodging. Seeing their aura and the timer Ruby saw it. **A war of attrition, and he's winning.**

She panicked and made her second mistake, pushing her offense more. Becoming overzealous she ended up overextending in an attack, giving Jaune the window he was looking for. Rolling into her guard into a crouch, he was right by her side. Crescent Rose wouldn't be effective this close, not that he wasted any time. Jaune put his gun a bare few inches from her side and pulled the trigger. The hit put her in orange and close to red, one more and it's over; she didn't want to lose, not her first fight, she has to prove herself. This panic led to the third and last mistake.

Using her semblance she went back to create some distance and breathing room. Ironically she had all the air knocked out off her as soon as she stopped, courtesy of a bullet to the chest from Jaune. The alarm sounded.

"Winner, Arc!" Goodwitch announced. Ruby could only groan, lying winded on the ground; while Jaune stretched and popped his neck.

The students were silent, most of them shocked at the upset win. Jaune just looked over at them with an even stare, the message it sent was clear; don't underestimate me, or you'll fall too.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter, as always reviews and feedback is welcome.**

 **Any questions feel free to PM me.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back. Sorry for the wait, the story has not been abandoned just life got in the way. My free time has been drastically cut down since I started the story for reasons that I won't bore you with. This chapter is shorter than the previous ones, so sorry about that. Hope you enjoy none the less.**

* * *

You could hear a pin drop in the silence of the arena. The silence broke when Jaune pulled Ruby up and gave her some support as they walked up to Goodwitch for their respective feedback.

"First of all Mr. Arc, congratulations on your second win." Jaune just gave the blonde teacher a nod while listening intently on what he could improve on. "You started the fight well, but once Ms. Rose closed the distance you were put on the defensive. While your plan to outlast your opponent worked here it won't necessarily work everytime. Consider further hand to hand training perhaps."

Jaune just nodded and made his way to leave while Goodwitch turned to Ruby with a much sterner look that caused the red cloaked reaper to shrink away. "Where should I even begin?"

The strict teacher rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed before continuing. "First you charged in, then you panicked, not once, but twice. In terms of close quarters weaponry you also held the advantage. You played right into Mr. Arc's hands the entire time." The strict teacher took a minute to let her words sink in. Was it harsh, maybe, but it was necessary;amateur mistakes like these can cost you your life. Not to mention she was let in 2 years early, she needs to catch up.

"Next time consider your opponent's weapon and range before the fight, then plan accordingly. Your plan to go straight into melee range was good but charging in head on as you did left you open. Keep a level head and wait for an opening to present itself, pushing the offensive can be both good and bad." Ruby's shoulders would've fallen off if they went even further down, the strict disciplinarian let out another deep sigh before taking on a bit gentler tone.

"You were moved ahead so you have a lot of catching up to do, but keep practicing and you'll get there. You're dismissed." Ruby perked up a bit at the end at that, it was clear the teacher didn't want to leave her on a sour note.

As Ruby was leaving the arena and the next participants were coming up Blake broke the silence within the group. "It might be just me reading too much into things, but didn't it seem like Goodwitch treated Jaune a bit differently?" Usually she wouldn't be too invested in the goings of others, but the way Jaune stood up for the Faunus in the cafeteria peaked her interest a bit; not to mention Ruby was her leader. This got the others to turn to her curiously even though most of them could agree.

Before Yang could say anything it was the heiress that spoke her mind. "Maybe cause Jaune's not a child and doesn't need to be treated as one." Needless to say this only served to irritate Yang. Before any words could be thrown between the 2 Ruby and Jaune arrived together and took their seats.

"Sorry for being late, I waited up for Ruby." said Jaune as he took his place next to Pyrrha. Odo wiggled his way out of Nora's grasp and jumped back around Jaune's neck. 'You seemed rather content in Nora's arms.' The fox just rested his head letting Jaune scratch behind his ear. _Turns out she can be gentle, if need be._

"Congratulations on your wins Jaune." Said Rin calmly with a happy smile.

"Yeah, Fearless Leader is the best! Although you could've broken Cardin's legs." Nora added on to the end with a pout, only to be calmed when Rin placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think beating him in 56 seconds was enough of a humiliation Nora." This caused the excitable ginger to perk back up.

"Speaking of which" Jaune turned around to face team RWBY who seemed to be holding quite a bit of tension; most of which was directed between Weiss, Ruby and Yang. "Yang! You owe me 20 Lien."

Jaune's interruption seemed to cut a bit of the tension and argument. Yang just grumbled a bit before taking out 20 Lien and handing it over. "Nice fight, but I'll beat your time." This just earned a smirk from Jaune.

"You're welcome to try." He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the hand belonged to his partner, who was smiling calmly.

"Those were nice fights, but I noticed that you had trouble in close quarters." She stroked down his upper arm, subtly feeling his muscles. "You know, if you want I could train you." Jaune just raised an eyebrow at this, surely his match wasn't that bad in close quarters. _I know what you're thinking, and you did fine. This has nothing to do with training you, she just wants to get close and 'hands-on' with you._ Odo didn't like how she was going about it, but had to give the girl credit for effort.

"Thanks Pyr, but I'm good." Judging from the Spartans expression this was not the answer she was looking for.

"I respect your decision Jaune-" _for how long I wonder._ Jaune had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at his companions comment "but are you sure that's wise? Not all opponents will lack in hand to hand if it comes to it, not to mention your lack of melee weapon." At this he did roll his eyes though.

"I'm fine with hand-to-hand and if you're that bothered by my lack of close range weapon, I suppose I can get a knife." Doesn't mean he was intending to use it; if he wanted to fight close range he would. _I still don't understand why you don't use your sword._

'I enjoy a challenge, plus I want to try and master fighting with just a gun. When the time comes I'll pick up the way of the sword again.'

Seeing how Pyrrha was about to say something, probably to convince him, Jaune decided to put the case to rest. "But I did intend to do some team training, so we can spar there." While not completely happy, the Spartan seemed to accept that answer and settled down a bit.

The rest of the class went by without anything interesting happening, Odo dozed off, Jaune observed the fighting style of others like most of the other students however his mind was wandering off. He really just wanted to get back to the dorm and continue reading the book Opal gave him.

After the class was out the students filed out, each team going their separate way with only JNPR and RWBY stopping outside. Each member of RWBY had their own chore to take care of or thing to do, Blake going to the library, Weiss contacting her sister, Ruby cleaning Crescent Rose, and Yang checking Beacon out and cleaning her 'Bumblebee'. As their 'sister' team left Jaune turned to his own team. "Okay so I don't know what you girls want to do but I'm going back to the dorm to get some reading in before dinner."

"I shall join you for that, perhaps with a cup of herbal tea." came the ever calm and serene voice of Rin; which of course was followed by her excitable partner.

"Just don't let Rin give you any unless, it tastes gross."

"But they're healthy, I have my own preferences when it comes to tea. Perhaps we have a similar taste, I brought some with me if you want to try mine." offered Jaune, being a fan of teas himself. This earned a smile from Rin, who clearly appreciated the gesture. "I'd like that very much Jaune."

"Nora? Pyrrha?"

"Unless you have pancake flavoured tea, no." Odo and Jaune rolled their eyes in sync at her answer. _Honestly, what were you expecting?_

"I'd like some." came the melodic voice of Pyrrha. Jaune just nodded before the team made their way to the dorm. They were a team only for one day, and while he might not know them that well yet, so far they seemed nice.

The rest of the day passed by mostly uneventfully, team RWBY was doing their own thing while JNPR was as well, although for them that consisted mainly of staying in the room. Nora was surprisingly calm while listening to music and petting Odo as well as giving some belly rubs. Jaune and Rin simply enjoyed their books while drinking one of Jaune's teas; albeit Pyrrha didn't enjoy it as much, or at all. Speaking of said Spartan, she kept glancing up at Jaune every so often while cleaning her weapon.

Letting out a deep sigh Jaune decided to address the issue, considering that the repeated glances were getting a bit frustrating. "Is there something you would like to ask Pyrrha?"

Hearing her name the red haired champion looked up seeing that her partner was looking at her while still holding the book. "Yes, that book you're reading, it seems very old. Like older than any I've seen before. Where did you get it?"

"Opal gave it to me." he replied nonchalantly as if it were nothing, before going back to reading it.

"Oh, what's it about?"

"Ancient medicine and herbology." While Pyrrha would've liked to push further like why the headmistress would give him such a book, or why he is reading something about old medicine; it was evident from his rather short answer and the way how he continued reading that he wasn't interested in holding a conversation at the moment. While Jaune knew that this could be easily construed as rude, he simply didn't like when he was disturbed when in the middle of reading.

Deciding to get back to it at some other time Pyrrha let her questions rest for now. It's only the first day after all, she'll have plenty of time to get to know her future husband better. All the while she didn't notice a certain fox eyeing her suspiciously.

Just like the day prior, Jaune woke up before his teammates and went about to shower and do his morning ritual. Day 1 went down mostly without a hitch, hopefully today would be the same. 'Hey Odo, you up.'

 _Of course, why?_ The crimson fox asked with a yawn.

'Just wondering what's on the agenda for today.'

 _While I'm not your private secretary I'll indulge you. The short rundown is Oobleck for History, Peach for Biology although I recall she's the teacher for the other sciences too, break, Goodwitch for Combat and to finish Leadership & Tactics with Opal for leaders only though._ Although he did memorise Jaune's schedule it was not for the purpose of being used as a personal secretary, even though he didn't mind helping him with it.

'Thanks, don't know what I'd do without you.' He said while getting dressed.

 _I shudder to even think about it._

So far everything was going the same as yesterday, eerily so, Pyrrha tried to tease him while getting ready, Nora lighting up like Christmas tree at the word pancakes and positively shooting out of the dorm, as well as her telling some ridiculous dream as if it were fact. Were it not for RWBY being less dysfunctional, more like Weiss being less hostile to Ruby, Jaune would have thought he was repeating his day.

 _Does that girl not have a filter between fact and fiction?_

'You weren't complaining about her yesterday in combat class.' Jaune quipped with a smirk, remembering how content Odo was while Nora rubbed his belly. No matter how much he argued, Odo would turn to putty from a good belly rub.

Suddenly a familiar loud cry could be heard from across the cafeteria, where just like yesterday, team CRDL was tormenting Velvet. Jaune simply sighed before rubbing the bridge of his nose. He whispered a quiet "fuck's sake" before making his way over. Didn't they learn their lesson yesterday? Well, he'll just have to teach them again. With that in mind Jaune channelled aura into his fist.

Judging from the fact that they didn't notice him till he was right by them, it became evident that their spacial awareness is either hilariously bad or they're confident enough to turn their back to the enemy. Either way they're in for a rude awakening. Just like yesterday, he tapped Cardin on the shoulder causing the bully to turn around and face him.

"Hello again." Jaune said with a friendly smile and tone. Just the sight of the blonde visibly angered Cardin if his face was anything to go by.

"You-"

Whatever he wanted to say was cut off by an aura infused fist, courtesy of Jaune, meeting his non black eye and knocking him back. Were it not for his teammates catching him, Cardin would've been knocked on his ass. While the hit didn't knock him out completely, he was definitely out of it. "Off you go boys."

RDL carried their dazed leader out again like yesterday, Jaune only hoped this wasn't going to be a regular occurrence. He didn't mind helping the bunny out, but he wouldn't always be around and she needed to know to fight back against bullies. Speaking of said bunny, Jaune turned around and offered his hand to Velvet. Taking it he pulled her up and let her straighten her clothes.

"You okay, ears alright?"

"Yeah, thank you for helping. Again." The bunny Faunus looked away sheepishly, internally cursing herself for not being able to stand up against the bullies. She was stronger and their senior to boot, yet she was too afraid of the consequences; racism was already high with all the White Fang activity and if a female struck a male, yeah, sexism wasn't something she wanted to be called out for.

"Hellooo~" Jaune waved his hands in front of Velvet's face "Remnant to Velvet." This caused her to snap out of her internal self depreciation; was she ignoring him all this time? Her bunny ears drooped at the thought, he was nice enough to help and then she just ignored him. She just looked at him before muttering a quick apology.

"Don't sweat it, also I know why you don't want to fight them, but you have to stand up for yourself." He didn't want to lecture her on such issues, but it was obvious that she needed to hear this. If she kept letting this happen then people will just walk over her later. "I get it, the whole racism and sexism thing, but this is bullying. If you don't step up they'll just keep doing it."

"Bu-"

"No buts, they'll either just get worse or something will happen that gives them a rude awakening. Not everyone is as tolerable of it as you, nor will they let them off as easy as me. They'll end up pissing off the wrong person and pick a fight too big for them. You're their senior to boot, don't be afraid to teach them a lesson." Having finished his little lecture Jaune put on a smile and waved her goodbye after hearing the bell.

For her part Velvet both happy and dumbstruck, happy that the cute and handsome blonde from yesterday came and saved her again, and dumbstruck that she got the equivalent of a lecture except without it being condescending. Making a mental note to talk with Jaune again to thank him, maybe with some cupcakes, she decided to go find her leader.

After a round of complimenting him for sticking up for the Faunus against bullies, just like yesterday, both teams found themselves arriving in Dr. Oobleck's class. _Oh God, it's the hummingbird's class again. She talks so fast I swear I get a headache._ Jaune could only roll his eyes at his companion's over exaggerated complaints. She wasn't that bad, you just had to pay attention.

"Good afternoon class." the good doctor said while zooming about and drinking what had to be a triple espresso in her thermos. "Today we'll be discussing culture all across Remnant; some kingdoms we'll go into more detail of, while others will be homework. Any questions? No? Good, let's get started."

 _Well this ought to be interesting._ Jaune looked at Odo inquisitively. 'Oh? How do you figure that?'

 _Judging by the reactions and responses from our classmates we'll be able to gain some insight into their mindset and viewpoints._ He had to concede that, Odo did make a valid point.

"As most you know we live in a primarily matriarchal society, although in recent years, especially after last Great War, significant progress has been made towards equality. This can be observed in everyday life, such as jobs for example." she took a quick swig of her thermos. "While this is generally true on a fundamental level, differences can be observed in various kingdoms. Vale, Atlas, Vacuo, and Menagerie while all having a progressive mindset tend certain differences in laws and policies."

Looking around the classroom it was obvious who actually cared, which to be fair was a fair few, there were the odd ones who scrunched their noses or scoffed at times. "That being said there's another kingdom which I've yet to mention, Mistral." hearing the name of her home made Pyrrha sit just a little bit straighter. _Oh boy, Mistral, here we go, this should be interesting._ Truth be told Odo was only curious at the red head's reactions here.

"Mistral sticks to a more traditionalist view of men and society in general as opposed to the other kingdoms. While progress has been made towards more equality, Mistral as a kingdom in general stuck to being a traditionalist kingdom." Odo noted how Pyrrha was practically beaming, and he didn't like it, not at all. "That being said there have been, in recent years, more and more people who chose to adopt the progressive view." At hearing this Pyrrha's expression did a full 180. The doctor just let out a deep sigh "sadly these people usually get ostracized, insulted, and in some cases even hurt depending on which part of Mistral you're in."

"Perhaps if they didn't abandon their tradition they would be looked at in a better light." this drew quiet a few eyes to the red head, although seeing how she's the champion of Mistral it didn't come as a surprise to many that she'd support traditional views. The fact that she was trying to justify discrimination was another matter, something that wasn't lost on Jaune and Odo. _Ah, finally her true colours are starting to show._

"Surely you can't be trying to justify discrimination." Jaune turned to face her. "just because their views don't align with those of others gives them no right to hurt and ostracise them."

 **Be patient, he doesn't know any better, he'll understand. Eventually.** With that in mind Pyrrha took a deep breath and put on her calm demeanour and fake smile that was practiced time and again for reporters and the public. "You have to understand Jaune, tradition is very important in Mistral, and disrespecting it is a grievous insult."

 _Well that's a facade if I ever saw one. Kind of insulting to be putting up one in front of your on partner. Guess deceit isn't below her._ She might be able to fool others, but Odo was neither naive, stupid nor blind. He saw through her charade and was not about to let her get her claws in Jaune. After class he might need to have a chat with him about this, although he seems to have things under control.

"Respecting tradition is one thing, not agreeing with it is another. Just because they don't follow the traditions doesn't necessarily mean that they don't respect them." letting out a sigh, Jaune rubbed the bridge of his nose. "again, don't try to justify discrimination."

The rest of the class was dead silent throughout the exchange, their was clearly a building tension between the two and judging by the frown on Pyrrha's face, things weren't going to calm down. Sensing the tension, Oobleck decided to continue the lesson before things would get more heated than necessary. Just as Pyrrha was about to retort Oobleck started. "While Mr. Arc does raise a valid point, the subject has been widely debated for years; especially in recent years, however no significant headway was made in the favour of either side."

For the rest of the class there was an odd tension in the air; most of it, or rather all of it came from the direction of team JNPR. Students even sat a bit further away; although if one looked closer they would've seen that from between the pair, the Mistrali Champion was the more tense and dismayed. Jaune for his part chose to focus on the lesson, he didn't see the point of dwelling about this at the moment.

Everyone was filing out of history and on their way to combat class. This was arguably every students' favourite. Most likely because they could fight in it; Jaune only rolled his eyes at this mentality. Sure, he knew the advantages and necessity of it but they should focus on academics just as much. They'll grow up and learn sooner or later. Although he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit excited, his spars with his sisters always got his blood pumping; albeit those were on a whole different level of fighting. Still, it didn't hurt to stretch his limbs. Not to mention this 'gun only' fighting style was both fun and a challenge, and he always did love a good challenge. By the time he finished his musings they arrived at combat class; Yang and Nora were just about to explode from energy and excitement. Neither got a chance to fight yesterday, while Ruby had a determined look, keen on proving herself. The rest were surprisingly nonplussed by it.

"So, Lover boy, want to have a go against me? Though I doubt your guns could hang with these." Yang said before punching her fists together. Before he could reply Goodwitch's voice cut across the room.

"Mr. Arc will not be your opponent as I've already chosen one for you Ms. Xiao Long." _Reckon she's afraid to pit you against Yang?_ Now that was an odd thought considering she knew that Jaune could take Yang; maybe she wasn't biased after all. 'No, I genuinely think she wants someone else to face her.' Looking to his side he could see the blonde brawler's expression drop, she clearly wasn't expecting much from whoever her opponent would be. "So you if you and Ms. Valkyrie could please get ready and make your way to the arena please."

Hearing that her opponent would be Nora instantly cheered Yang up if her grin was anything to go by. _This should be interesting, two powerhouses going against each other with neither knowing the definition of restraint._

"TIME TO BREAK SO LEGS!" Nora practically shot up yelling. Rin only sighed while some people, including her circle of friends, backed away a bit. _Why did we get the crazy one?_ Odo bemoaned their luck on teammate, seriously though, does this girl ever run out of energy or sit still? 'You weren't complaining about her belly rubs yesterday.' The fox just indignantly looked away at the accusation, while Jaune just smirked. 'What? She was pretty calm and you seemed to enjoy it.' A low growl was the only thing that Jaune heard in response to that to which he chuckled.

The 2 were pulled out of their conversation by Nora's voice. "I shall dedicate this win to Mr. Fox!" Seems like both Yang and Nora made it to the arena while Jaune and Odo talked. 'Isn't that sweet?' Jaune thought while having the biggest shit eating grin he could possibly muster. _I'll bite you._

The fight of the 2 first year powerhouses was certainly something; explosions and shotgun blasts tore up the arena, Nora laughed maniacally while swinging her hammer while Yang's hair was practically on fire. Ultimately it was Yang's, apparently semblance that made the difference. With a solid hit she was able to send Nora flying out of the arena. The buzzer sounded and Goodwitch called the match, Yang's hair simmered down while she panted heavily. Nora on the other hand…

"That was awesome!" she practically shot up, almost like nothing happened; suddenly she turned gloomy though. "Sorry I didn't win Mr. Fox."

The 2 powerhouses went over to Goodwitch to get feedback, or rather dragged themselves. Yang because of how tired she was, while Nora simply from not winning for Mr. Fox. "Don't worry Nora, you can make it up to him with lots of belly rubs."

That caused 2 reactions, it got Nora to do a 180 and be chipper again, and secondly got Odo to growl. Probably out of embarrassment, meanwhile Jaune just had a shit eating grin on his face getting a kick out of teasing Odo. _I swear I'll end you if you keep this up._ For all his grumbling both Odo and Jaune knew that the fox would enjoy the belly rubs to come.

Once the fighters came back, Jaune handed Odo over to Nora who was elated at playing with the soft fox again, while he just grumbled before relaxing and just about purring. Jaune kept watching the fights but there was nothing interesting on; until he heard his partner volunteer to take on a whole team making him raise an eyebrow at this. Sure, she was a champion but 4v1 is still ridiculous odds. 'Is she trying to make a point or prove something?'

 _My guess is yes. You told her you don't need her training and now she wants to prove a big and strong she is and that you indeed should ask her for training, plus I think the part back with the coffee powered hummingbird's class isn't sitting well with her._ Odo could already see the problems this could lead to, if his theory was true then things will be problematic in the future, especially how different Jaune and Pyrrha's ideology's are. Swearing to keep her eyes on the girl and try to make sure that things won't end with disaster and chaos between them, the fox guardian turned back to watch the match. Although calling it a match would be a massive overstatement.

Pyrrha was destroying CRDL; the all guy team put up something resembling a fight but it was clear that they were woefully outmatched. Every attack Pyrrha dodged, parried or countered. After watching this for a while Jaune frowned cause one thing became obvious to him, she was toying with them. She outclassed them greatly and this was just showboating. Usually Jaune would have no problem with it, but here it served no purpose or more specifically no appropriate one. It just seemed like pettiness and Pyrrha trying to prove her point and dominance. But beating and humiliating 4 people was not the way to go about it; not to mention this is a spar between classmates where you should respect your opponent, in Jaune's eyes this had no respect. If they were here to truly improve then each student should take a fight seriously as if it were a proper one. 'This is wrong Odo, and I don't know how to feel towards her about this, she's my partner but I can't exactly stand for what she's doing either.'

 _Well just have a word with her about it, although you'll be happy to know that this sorry fight is over in a moment._ Just as Odo told him that a loud clang was heard as Pyrrha's shield connected with Cardin's head, knocking him out and ending the match. The crowd reaction was mixed at the end of it; some didn't expect anything already knowing the outcome, some thought it would at least be a match, while a few saw through it as just a beatdown. It was Professor Goodwitch's voice that broke the silence.

"Excellent performance Ms. Nikos, but perhaps less showboating next time." this caused the Mistrali Champion to frown while Jaune smirked where as Odo let out what would equate to a chuckle. _Things don't tend to get past her I'll give her that._

While Pyrrha made her way back to the lockers, Goodwitch was giving her feedback to the still dazed and exhausted team CRDL. As far as combat class went the starting 2 remained the main talking points of the class; the way Nora and Yang went at each other, and Pyrrha's beatdown of CRDL which some debated they deserved for being racist jackasses.

The rest of the day went without much of a hitch or incident, although both teams cold feel a certain level of tension coming from Pyrrha and Jaune. More so from Pyrrha than Jaune though as she kept looking expectantly while Jaune seemingly made it a point to ignore her looks. Finally deciding to break it Ruby spoke up after having a brilliant idea, according to herself, of spending the weekend together so both teams could get to know each other. After much back and forth of what to do and what time at, both teams agreed to meet at the cafeteria and head to Vale later in the afternoon, seeing how everyone had something to do in the morning.

After both teams retired to their respective dorms, Jaune was elected to shower first. _Are you planning on talking to your partner anytime soon cause she's been looking at you for the better part of the day, and this tension is killing me too. Plus you need to address this issue._

'Fine' was Jaune's only reply as he sighed deeply. Putting his book down he turned towards pyrrha who was busy with her scroll. "Ok Pyrrha, what's bothering you?"

A redundant question as he knew the answer, but thought it best to ask anyway. Putting her scroll down the red headed champion turned to face him. "Besides our argument in Oobleck's class it's the fact that you don't want any training from me in close quarters. You need a melee weapon and to be able to defend yourself. I think I've shown that I'd be a great person to teach you that from my performance in combat class."

This just made him frown. "We had a discussion in Oobleck's class that you tried turning into an argument, and in regards to combat class there was no need for what you did there."

"I don't know what you mean, all I did was win a fight."

"No, you went out there to prove a point. You took them on, dragged it out, beat them down, and showboated. It was disrespectful to your classmates and served no purpose." Jaune said chastising her, which she clearly didn't appreciate if her frown was anything to go by, but before she could speak Jaune silenced her by raising his hand to show he wasn't done. "In a real fight you'll need to take your opponents seriously and showboating and acting like that could cost you or your teammates lives. Secondly, I don't need training in close quarters; I welcome a spar but I'm good as far as training is concerned. I'm simply choosing to use a gun only fighting style, if the situation calls for it I have the means to defend myself."

A heavy silence lay in the room, no one spoke, Rin and Nora just looked at each other and waited. Pyrrha let out a deep breath before looking into Jaune's eyes. "Very well I see the point you're trying to make and I'll concede it to you, trusting your judgement. But I expect that we'll be training together as a team at least?"

"Yes we will. I'll work out a schedule for us." with the situation seemingly settled team JNPR turned in. _Is it just me or was she convinced just a little too easily?_

'No, I agree with you. Can't do anything about it though, we'll just have to see how things go and respond accordingly.' Odo just grunted in acknowledgement making sure to always keep an eye on the champion.

* * *

 **A/N hope you enjoyed chapter 3 and that it gave some answer to some questions. Constructive criticism is always welcome and if you have any further questions feel free to PM me and I'll try to reply as soon as I can.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm baaaack. To some extent at least, this story is NOT dead, life simply takes priority. To spare everyone a rant and an excuse here's the short version: Shit happened at home, more shit is hitting the fan at work, and things aren't good however you slice the cake. Now then onto the story. As always feel free to PM me if you have any questions and I'll try to reply. More AN at the end.**

* * *

Throughout the rest of the week things were much the same with a couple of differences, Cardin eased up on Velvet, at least whenever Jaune or Velvet's team was around; and the tension between Pyrrha and Jaune eased, much to the relief of both teams. All the while Odo didn't take his eyes off of Pyrrha, always being vigilant around the Mistrali Champion. Both teams were looking forward to the weekend, especially because they had made plans in Vale. Jaune however was looking forward to another day namely Friday, the day they only have classes for the 1st half of the day and after lunch the rest of the time is allocated to independent studies. Whether the student actually use this time to do as such is up to them, but to Jaune it meant something else. He could finally meet with Professor Peach in private. Ever since Beacon started he had to put up with various degrees of bullshitery instead of being able to do what he wanted, but now he could actually get back to running some tests. Opal guaranteed that he could use the Beacon labs, so there was no question whether he'd be allowed to use them or not.

Once Port finished his class he couldn't gather his things fast enough. He had to admit, however bad it was, that he simply did self study as going through the text book was more effective and useful than trying to read between the lines of Port's cabbage and tea spoon stories. He seemed like a good man, but he sadly had the charisma of a stale donut. While no one paid much mind to him not listening to Port, cause admittedly they didn't either, all his friends noticed his exceptional hurry to leave. Once out of the room he was ready to practically shoot to Peach's lab, until he felt a hand on his shoulder much to both his and Odo's irritation.

"Where are you going Jaune?" of course it was Pyrrha. His partner, for better or worse, was looking at him inquisitively.

 _She should remove her hand before I remove it for her._ Odo emphasised his threat by raising his head and growling at her which got her to remove it pretty fast. Whether it was more out of surprise or actually being afraid was debatable but Odo made his point and seemed to be well happy. _Better._ Came an all too smug acknowledgment from him before he put his head down. Jaune could only roll his eyes at this, although he did appreciate Odo's help; while he didn't mind physical contact per say, that didn't mean he was alright with people just touching him.

"I'm going to Professor Peach's labs, I need to go over a few things with her and if I have time I'll probably use the lab as well." he turned to leave, ready and eager to get his tests going. "I'll be back later, don't wait up." with his part said he left his friends to their own devices, focusing on his project.

It might have been rude to just walk off like that, but if he would have stayed then they probably would have offered to help, then he would have had to decline, then there would have been questions, and then he would have had to explain that most of them would constitute a walking Health and Safety Hazard, except probably Rin, and after ALL of that and hoping no one's offended he would've had to explain that they wouldn't understand half of it and he isn't inclined to share and explain to people who he's known for less than a week. In conclusion, time consuming with the end result being the same, this way no one's time is wasted.

 _Getting out of dodge rather quick aren't we?_

'What do you expect me to do? Stay and explain the numerous ways in which they would either be useless or actually hinder my progress? That would've gone down well' he remarked. It did not take long to reach Peach's labs, he made sure to know the way by studying the map of Beacon. once at the Professor's lab he recomposed himself and got ready, hoping that she was nice although from what little he heard about the apparently Faunus Professor was that she was generally a nice and very knowledgeable person. Jaune knocked on the door before entering, once inside he saw a pristinely maintained, top of the line laboratory with high grade equipment. "How the hell does Opal afford all these?"

Jaune was very well aware of how much most of this equipment cost considering he used most of them in the past and even had some back home; given that the ones his family had (more specifically he and his sisters shared) were of the highest quality and top of the line. Thinking about it a bit Jaune had to acknowledge that to an outside eye some of his family's facilities on the estate and in the house might have seemed a bit odd and over the top, but when you broke things down, each served a purpose and had a valid reason for being there. One doesn't keep a million+ Lien lab in there house for the sake of just having it. The thought of it and all the fun he and his sister had in there learning and experimenting gave him a sense of homesickness, but he quickly got over it.

"I already asked, but she just waved it off." turning around Jaune was met by a pair of hazel eyes belonging to a brunette who seemed to be his height, and oddly unlike many of the other females in Beacon, wasn't as muscled. The pair of squirrel ears on her head showed her Faunus heritage. "You must be Jaune, Opal told me that you'd be stopping by she just didn't say when. I'm Professor Peach, nice to meet you."

Taking her extended hand Jaune shook it. "Likewise, glad to hear that you were told."

 _She seems nice enough._

'Glad she has your approval, as far as I'm concerned, as long as she lets me do my thing without being nosy we'll be good.' he didn't mean to come across as cold to anyone but when it came to his experiments he preferred privacy and quiet.

 _Try to be a bit nicer or at least act friendlier, I know you don't like others, bar your sisters, interfering or assisting in your studies and experiments; but that doesn't mean you need to be cold to others._

Odo knew how Jaune could be when it came to all his projects; unless you were contributing in some form and were in on the project, as far as he was concerned, you had no business there. While it had merit and it was a rational course of thought, that mentality can easily grate on others. Acting passive aggressive, hostile or snarky was Odo's forte.

"While Opal did say that you would most likely be familiar with most of the machinery and equipment in here I just want to clarify that you really can use everything in here." Peach wasn't exactly doubting Opal's word, but the idea of letting a 1st year student use her lab freely still unnerved her a bit. While the Headmistress might take everything easy and in stride, at the end of the day if there is an accident in the lab it will be on her head and conscience.

"Don't worry Professor, I used these and others before. Your machinery couldn't be in safer hands." He thought before correcting himself. "Tell a lie, while I can use them, safety is another matter. My experiments can become a bit dangerous."

 _Yes, a bit; say didn't you blow up 2 rooms at one point?_

'Depends how you define a bit, I like to take that within a margin of error.'

The Faunus Professor didn't seem convinced and narrowed her eyes in a scrutinising manner. It was quite obvious she was on the fence, and while it didn't matter too much as Opal guaranteed him the use of the labs, he'd rather be on good terms with the person who runs it. "Fine, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but if you need assistance or are unsure make sure to call me over. Also, I do have to ask of the nature of your experiment."

While he expected this question, he really would've preferred if she hadn't asked it. Even so he wasn't gonna tell her and could only hope that she understood. He was so close to a break through that he couldn't afford to get any interference and he preferred to keep his cards close to his chest. Deciding to settle on an answer that hinted at it a bit while still keeping it vague enough he just went with the field of study. "Biochemistry."

Professor Peach looked at him like he grew a second head, she looked and blinked, then blinked again, obviously not expecting an answer like that. After all, what normal 18 year old would study biochemistry while aiming to be a Huntsman. Jaune however was not a normal 18 year old, nor did he prioritise becoming a Huntsman, he was here because he made a deal with Opal. Nothing less, nothing more. Why she wanted him to join he had no idea, but as long as she held up her end of the bargain he wouldn't ask too many questions.

"Ok, well if you need any help just make sure to let me know. You can either call or message me. I'll also authorise your scroll to give you 24/7 access. Seems like Opal forgot about that." as Professor Peach went about authorising his Scroll and sending over her number Jaune took a moment to appreciate how nice she was. He had others laugh at him when he said that he talked about this kind of thing saying 'he was in over his head' until he showed them otherwise. At least Peach was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. "There, you're now all set. Just be careful."

"Thank you Professor, I appreciate it." he said with a smile before getting some of the equipment he needed ready. After seeing that Professor Peach left he started taking his own essentials out and spreading them out on a table before organising them. Throughout it all he had a smile on his face and hummed a happy tune. _You seem to be awfully happy, which is good as long as you don't lose focus and screw up._

'I have no idea what you're talking about' Jaune replied pretending he knew nothing about it.

 _In that case let me refresh our memory. The time you blew up the shed, or the time you gassed the house and it had to be quarantined for a week, or…_

Jaune just let his head drop for a moment while he let out a sigh, he had to admit that there might have been a few instances where his concentration was lost which ended up with some minor accidents. However, he learned his lesson from those and he was not going to lose focus now, not when he's so close. He started up the machines he would need and got some of his ingredients ready before taking out a pitch black flower from his bag. He had a gut feeling that this might not be the right one, that maybe he should disregard this, but considering the pay off he decided the risk was worth it. According to the book Opal gave him this could be the final ingredient, and he hoped beyond hope it was.

Blood, sweat, tears, pain, and more than one morally questionable decision got him to this point. He suppressed any memories of his past experiments and conduct, many would frown upon the lengths he went to. Him and a few of his sisters that is, but science, results, success, they require sacrifice and 'flexible' morals. Sadly very few understood this. Letting out a deep sigh he went back to the task at hand.

Odo just watched him, making sure he didn't get distracted and that no one disturbed them. He saw Jaune clean the flower before distilling it and extracting its essence. Once it came out he could see that it was a dark grey, borderline black substance. Taking a drop of it and inserting the sample in a machine revealed there to be some impurities in it even though it was the first extraction which was supposed to be the purest. Seeing this Jaune could only frown, would've been too good if it came out pure that easy.

Jaune patiently and carefully handled the unknown substance before inserting it into various machines over the next hour until it resulted in the purest form. Which seemed to be a tar black liquid, although by the look of it one could mistake it for liquid darkness, void given form. Pleased with finally gotten what he wanted, Jaune took out a small box that contained 4 vials of golden, glowing liquid. _Jaune, I know you want this to work, that you NEED this to work. But I'm getting all sorts of bad vibes from this. Let's rethink this._

'I agree, and I feel the same but as you said, I NEED this to work. Time is not on our side.' he sighed before taking the 2 vials. While he could have used his hands to mix the 2 he agreed with Odo so instead he chose to give them to an automated machine before standing back. As soon as the black liquid joined the golden one it started to mix with it before turning it pitch black. While neither Odo nor Jaune knew what to expect or what the end result should look like, they were fairly certain it was not supposed to look like liquid darkness and death. Inputting some commands, the mechanised arm took a leaf and moved it near the newly formed concoction before taking a drop from it. Once in position it let the liquid drop and come in contact with the leaf.

It didn't take long for the reaction to start and the results to show themselves, the area where the drop landed started to 'wither away' for lack of a better term. It didn't stop on the area though, it spread till the whole leaf withered and died. Jaune just stared at it in disbelief before an alarm brought him out of his stupor, looking to the monitor he read the warning that blared up onto the screen.

 _ **!Warning!**_

 _ **Biohazard detected**_

 _ **Initiating quarantine**_

The same thought crossed Odo and Jaune as they said in unison.

"Fuck"

*** _Team JNPR dorm room ***_

"What do you think Jaune is doing?" asked Nora excited and curiously from her Rin and Pyrrha, who were reading and doing weapon maintenance respectively. Rin just continued reading her book on meditation techniques before looking at Nora.

"I don't know, he didn't even hint at it, but if he wants to keep it to himself then that's his prerogative." came Rin's smooth reply, she wasn't as excitable as Nora nor as nosy. If Jaune wished to keep it a secret than that was his business, everyone has a right for privacy. Usually she tried to reign Nora in a bit, while she didn't mean ill by it, her curiosity was often misconstrued as being intrusive and did lead to more than a few fights in the past. She just hoped that the others would understand this and that Nora would grow out of it.

Meanwhile Pyrrha on the other hand didn't share Rin's point of few. Having finished cleaning her weapon, she set it aside before facing her two present teammates. "For my part I don't like this, we're a team. We should be more open with each other and not keep secrets like this."

"What he does in his own time is his business Pyrrha, we should respect his privacy, and that means no elaborate plans Nora." as if on cue Nora suddenly stashed away a notebook that she was writing in furiously before grumbling something about 'no fun'. Rin could only roll her eyes at this while seeing Pyrrha frown and about to retort. "Look Pyrrha, would you tell all your secrets to someone you knew for a week?"

"No." the red haired girl grumbled out while crossing her arms indignantly, not liking how Rin was siding with Jaune even if she did raise a valid point. She didn't see any reason for Jaune to keep secrets from the team, from her, something she would have to talk to him about later.

Just as Pyrrha was about to reply the alarm blared on all their Scrolls. All 3 girls grabbed their Scroll just to gain a curious look before Nora voiced their collective thought. "Why are the labs suddenly quarantined?"

"Wait isn't that where Jaune is?" Pyrrha asked worriedly before checking the alarm again. Going to the details for more information brought up the cause 'Biohazard'. Her blood ran cold at the thought of him being in the middle of a biohazard zone. Yes they butted heads and had different ideologies but that didn't matter right now, her partner was possibly in danger and she had to act. Before she could tell them, Nora and Rin were already on their feet and ready to run for a teacher. The 3 of them practically bolted out of their dorm to try and find a teacher as soon as possible, the sooner they could let them know the higher the chances of Jaune coming out of their safe.

Luckily for them they didn't need to go far to find Professor Goodwitch as she was walking through the halls at an all too leisurely pace for someone who should be aware that there is a biohazard quarantined on the school's grounds. "Professor Goodwitch, there's a quarantine in the labs."

The blonde professor simply raised an eyebrow at that, while completely calm. Her look was more akin to curious as opposed to someone worried or suddenly panicked. "I'm well aware Ms. Nikos, Professor Peach has already been notified of it and is taking care of it."

An incredulous look overcame the 3, especially Pyrrha, at how nonchalant she was about all of this. Losing whatever composure she had she yelled at the teacher, almost like lecturing her. How can a professor be this carefree about something this important? Professor Goodwitch is supposed to be the responsible one. "Jaune's in there, we need to do something!"

Professor Goodwitch frowned at the tone she was taking with her, while her concern is valid, it didn't justify taking that tone with her. "Watch your tone Ms. Nikos, don't forget you're talking to a teacher."

While this obviously didn't placate the red head's anger it made her back down a bit and recompose herself. Yelling at a teacher wasn't going to get them anywhere except detention, a more tactful approach would yield better results. Before being allowed to apologise or respond, the professor said something that surprised all 3 of them.

"Also if Mr. Arc is in there then he is A. Going to be perfectly fine and B. Probably the cause of it."

"But-"

"No 'buts', go back to your room and wait till he gets back." her glare and tone gave no room for argument, and even though the 3 students obviously wanted to argue, they knew it would do no good. With worry filled hearts they made their way back to their room, hoping that their leader would indeed be fine. All the while the Professor watched their retreating forms before relaxing her features and posture and sighing once they were out of sight.

"I better go make sure he doesn't kill anyone with whatever he made this time." she said before slowly making her way to the labs.

It was late into the evening when Jaune (and Odo) finally returned to their dorm. To say he was in a bad mood was an understatement judging from his expression and posture. His teammates worried looks ease and they smiled at him before getting up for a hug which he reluctantly reciprocated. Nora was the first to speak up. "We were so worried! What happened?"

Before he could tell them it was nothing Rin cut him off, almost like reading his mind. "Please don't brush us off Jaune, you had us worried, we are your team. You don't have to tell us everything."

Mulling it over, he decided to go along with it, especially considering that she did raise a valid point. Next he might need to elaborate a bit more and not just going away. He took a deep breath before going into his explanation which would more likely than not have mixed results. It always did, everytime he went into details about his experiments and the lengths he went to people seemed to be awful quick to judge. As long as he went with a watered down version, or rather an edited one he could get away with an explanation here.

"Basically I was doing some research and an experiment got out of hand." before he could be interrupted by Nora, Jaune put his hand up to show that he wasn't done speaking. "You're probably wondering how that would relate to a 'biohazard' warning. To put it simple 2 chemicals mixed and created what would possibly be classified as a chemical weapon, as poison doesn't quite do it justice."

"You created a biochemical weapon!?" Pyrrha nigh on yelled out incredulously.

"Yep, but don't worry, after a lot of trial and error I came up with a neutralising agent." he said to reassure her while Odo just kept looking at Jaune.

 _You left out the pile of dead rats it involved and how we had to dispose of it._

'Wasn't much left to dispose of once the poison was done with them.' he communicated back, with complete indifference. 'Better them than us, besides, that's why I got them. They served their purpose.'

 _You reckon they'd see it like that?_

'No, and that's why they won't be told.' he glared at Odo intensely while communicating it mentally. 'They wouldn't understand it either.'

 _I know why you have this mindset but you can't just justify everything nor objectify or quantify life._

'Look I'm tired, I failed, again, and I just want to shower and sleep. We can talk more about ethics tomorrow.' Odo could only grumble at this and chose to instead rest as well.

Jaune woke up to the sound of his Scroll going off signalling that he had a message. Picking it up and looking at it he saw that it was from Opal and titled as important. There wasn't much to read once he opened the message, just Opal telling him to come to her office immediately. He could only sigh at this, talking to her was the last thing he wanted; he had experiments to do as well as preparing to go out with the others. Not something he had the most interest in but seeing how he'd be spending the next few years alongside them he thought he should join.

He would be the first to admit that he was obsessive about his tests and experiments, not to mention anti-social. It was a bad thing, he knew it, Odo knew it, his family knew it; at their behest though he tried and eventually did make some friends. Those who he did consider friends he held close, while others were mostly just acquaintances. He had no time to 'play' around, he had experiments to do and a cure to find. He came to Beacon because Opal promised him knowledge that he could use, knowledge that he couldn't find elsewhere. So far she held up her end even if it didn't pan out so far. Despite this failure there was more information in the book that could be used, more theories to go through, more experiments to do, and as long as that held up he'd hold up his end of the bargain too. As long as Opal gave him information and resources that were unique he would stay and train to be a Huntsman. Not that he understood why Opal wanted him to be one; the only other alternative was that maybe she had ulterior motives. Either way, as long as she made good on the deal so would he.

Sighing deeply, he got out of his bed while groaning, he saw that his teammates were having a lie in and chose to be quiet and let them rest a bit longer. Quietly making his way into the bathroom he started to get ready for the day and the inevitable headache that was going to be this meeting. Having finished he exited the bathroom just to notice that his team was also up, albeit to varying degrees, and getting ready. "Good morning, glad to see everyone up. Opal wants to see me, probably about yesterday's 'incident'."

"Can I come too? Since you know, we're partners." asked Pyrrha while getting a towel. This might be something that pertains to Jaune, but he was her partner and if he was in trouble she should be there for him; and maybe learn a bit more about him in the process. While the red haired champion was proud of her idea of accompanying Jaune to be supportive she was also hopeful that he'd accept. Was it bad that she had ulterior motives for going there? Maybe, but if he wasn't going to open up then she'd just have to learn things differently.

 _Let me just be the first one to point out that this issue does not involve her in the least and there is no measure in which she could contribute via her company. Henceforth I put forth a motion to dismiss her._ Odo's dislike for the girl was very apparent to Jaune by this point, but however much Odo would've wanted to completely cut Pyrrha out she was still his partner; for better or worse. Taking a deep breath he made his decision and while this wouldn't make the red fox very happy, he couldn't keep ignoring Pyrrha.

"Sure, I'll wait up. Just hurry cause apparently it's urgent."

Hearing this caused the champion to smile and hurry into the bathroom to get ready. If Jaune was being honest with himself he'd have to admit that Pyrrha had a nice smile, something he wouldn't mind seeing more of. With that in mind though she still had way too different ideals than him.

 _Did you not get a damn thing I just said?_

'I did, okay? But the fact remains that she is still my partner and I can't just cut her out.' this excuse just caused the fox to growl at him. Nora and Rin just looked at Odo oddly, not understanding why he was growling at Jaune of all people.

 _Fine, but don't think I didn't notice how you looked at her when she smiled at you. I know that look, you got burned last time, and that was with someone who was relatively nice. Pyrrha isn't even that._ Jaune was about to retort but Odo cut him off before he could. _And the excuse of 'different ideals' won't cut it forever._

Jaune could only sigh at his companions words, he did raise a valid point. Nevertheless things would unfold with time and Pyrrha might change, maybe, hopefully they just had a misunderstanding and nothing more than a rocky start. Sadly a part of him knew that this might just be wishful thinking. You couldn't just change someone's mindset so easily, and Pyrrha seemed dead set on hers. He really didn't want to clash with her repeatedly over the next four years, but if push comes to shove he'll stand his ground.

Before they could continue their conversation the door to the bathroom opened and Pyrrha came out smiling at him. "Let's go, we don't want to keep Opal waiting do we?"

"No, no we don't. Nora, Rin, we'll see you in the cafeteria."

The walk to Opal's office was fairly uneventful besides Pyrrha trying to make small talk, something Jaune wasn't keen on at the time. He knew that he was being rude, but being woken up just to be summoned into Opal's office first thing in the morning before breakfast did that to him. Call it one of his character flaws, but he got grouchy when hungry. Usually he made a note to keep a protein bar or something on him but he forgot to buy some. Even so he could hear the faint voice of Pyrrha trying to talk to him.

"Look, Pyrrha, I'm sorry, but until I have at least 1 cup of coffee and some form of food in me I won't be much of a conversationalist." While his answer didn't seem to please the Spartan Champion she accepted it.

Once by Opal's office, they took the elevator up and upon its doors opening were greeted to the sight and sound of Professor Peach yelling at a perfectly calm Opal. The sight was almost comical considering how calm and nonchalant Opal was, while as always drinking from her mug.

"Not one day Opal, not one day! He didn't even need a day for there to be an accident! Scratch that, a biohazard; a bloody biohazard!" the Faunus Professor yelled while her face was practically glowing red. "Not a few broken vials or machines, or maybe even fire. No, a biohazard that quarantined the whole labs." she finally slammed her hands on the Headmistress' table before glaring her in the eye. "I want answers and to take away his access to the labs!"

Before the Headmistress could answer Jaune chose to make his presence known by speaking up. "that's rather excessive, I mean I understand the answers part but banning me from the labs is a bit far."

Professor Peach turned her glare on him so fast that one would be surprised that she didn't get whiplash. Some might have backed off or withered under a teacher's glare, but she wasn't Goodwitch and Jaune wasn't intimidated easily either. Not to mention, that in his mind at least, he didn't do anything wrong. In the Faunus Professor's opinion though he seemed to have done everything wrong.

"A _bit far_? You caused a quarantine via a biohazard, then proceeded to somehow wipe the memory of all the equipment so I don't even know what the source was!"

Before Jaune could reply, Pyrrha decided to voice her opinion on the matter, much to his dismay. "I'm sure that Jaune had a reason for doing it and means no offense to you. It was just a mere accident, he'll be more careful in the future."

 _You can speak for yourself, and she shouldn't be trying to say what you will and won't do in the future._ Odo did not like Pyrrha and it seemed that every passing day she just dug herself further in the metaphorical grave that the red fox made for her. He knew well enough Mistrali tradition and how they were towards men; respectful? Yes. Caring? Yes. Kind? Yes. Controlling? Definitely. Thinking they know best for them? Yes. As far as the fox was concerned if Pyrrha wanted to act and expect to follow such mentality and traditions than she should have stayed in Mistral.

"I understand you trying to defend your partner Ms. Nikos, but this is serious. It's not a case of 'oops he broke a glass'. Unless you understand the details and implications do not presume to be able to handle the situation." before Peach could go off on either student again, the Headmistress cut in, choosing to finally settle the dispute.

"Please calm down Peach, yelling won't get us anywhere. I'm sure Mr. Arc will shed light onto the situation if we give him the chance to speak." looking at Jaune Opal quirked an eyebrow expectantly which he answered with a nod. While this seemed to ease a bit of the tension in the office Professor Peach continued to stare at him intensely, awaiting his explanation.

"Now, where to start?" he mused trying to decide how to broach the subject and give sufficient information without actually giving away anything of great importance.

"From the start." Peach practically growled out while still being rather irate.

 _Really? You don't say? I thought we should start at the end._ Odo's ever so witty sarcasm reared its head as he tilted his head slightly. Jaune just let this comment go ignored, focusing on the matter at hand.

"Alright, alright, just calm down already. So I was basically trying out a new ingredient for an elixir I'm making, however the ingredient did not have the desired effect." No lie so far, the best way to go about this was to mix in just enough of the truth to sate their curiosity while leaving the more important parts out. "Now you're probably wondering how all this led to a biohazard."

Peach confirmed his assumption with a nod while continuing to listen keenly to his explanation. From how she was relaxing a bit Jaune gathered that he was at least putting her mind somewhat at ease from how he willingly was telling her everything. All he needed to do now was to push his advantage, if he could give her as much information as possible all at once without allowing her to ask questions he would be in the clear. Questions would require for him to give more details, details he very much wanted to keep to himself. And if he made up more and more lies than he might just get tangled up in them and all of it could come undone. "Basically the reaction created a poison, a rather potent one, henceforth the alarms went off leading to the quarantine. I stayed there till I created a neutralising agent after which I proceeded to wipe the records to avoid anyone from trying to even remotely recreate it."

Jaune explained all this with all the calmness in the world, like he didn't just create one of the most vile and dangerous substances in Remnant. To be fair, from his point of view he didn't do anything wrong nor was this a cause for alarm. All that happened was an experiment went bad and produced an undesirable result. A neutralising agent has been made, hazardous substance contained, all in all, everything has been sorted.

Silence reigned complete in the room while everyone processed what they just heard. Pyrrha already knew about it from Jaune explaining it to them, Opal was just sitting and drinking from her mug slowly as if either contemplating what she just heard or not caring about it. On the other hand Peach had the most varied reaction, her facial features switching between angry, confused, accepting, and calm. Jaune was starting to get concerned about the Faunus Professor. Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably just a few minutes, the Professor let out a slow breath and composed herself.

 _Guess we're about to find out if understands our reasoning or if we'll have a problem on our hands._

'There will be no problem. As long as the deal stands with Opal I get free use of the labs. Having Peach on good terms would simply be useful, but ultimately not necessary.'

The crimson fox shook its head in exasperation. _I hate it when you get like this._

"While I do understand what you just said, there are several points that I'd contest and have issues with. One being someone as young having such deep knowledge of the subject matter, kids your age don't exactly gravitate to this field of study at such a young age. Two, just who taught you all this? Three, I want details about the poison and the antidote." While the Faunus Professor's tone changed from the outraged one she held earlier, it turned into a mix of scrutinising and demanding. Even her glare only lessened into a frown.

There was an odd sort of tension in the room while everyone was silent. Eventually Jaune decided to be the one to break the tension. He could have just strong armed Peach with the deal he made with Opal but 2 things stopped him; one, he didn't want to antagonise a Professor and two, Odo would've not gotten off his back about it. Henceforth the best solution was born, a compromise.

"One, no they don't; two, irrelevant; and three, just no. There is a reason I wiped the memory banks Professor and while I honestly understand your frustration I will not disclose the formula." He could see the Professor about to start yelling again while her frown turned back into a harsh glare, before she could get any word out though he raised his hand as if to signal that he wasn't done yet. "How about a compromise though?"

This seemed to get everyone's attention and even was enough to placate the increasingly volatile Professor Peach a bit. A bit. Through gritted teeth and in a tone that would betray her Faunus trait she managed to growl out 2 words. "What compromise?"

 _What have you got in mind and why do I have this foreboding feeling that things are going to go to shit in the near future?_ Odo could already tell deep down that somehow, in some way, shape or form, whatever Jaune's idea was, it was not going to be good. 'Don't worry, it's the perfect solution.'

"Someone, or more specifically a person of my choosing, approved by you, gets to 'observe' and if they deem something too dangerous or risky they can either call me out on it or notify you and Opal. How about that?"

While the Peach was thinking it over Pyrrha was smiling, smiling a bit too much maybe. Although it was a pretty easy guess why she was so happy, this was her chance. Jaune chooses her and things would fit in place from there, simple. Opal meanwhile was doing what she does best, raise a mug of coffee to her mouth and take a sip. After what seemed like an hour but was probably just a few minutes, Peach seemed to make up her mind. "I don't like this. I don't like secret's being kept from me if they involve my labs."

"That is Beacon's labs Peach, you are in charge of course and are doing a magnificent job at running it but let's bear that in mind. Although I think what Mr. Arc proposes is a good idea. He suggests a person and we approve, meaning that it's not simply him taking charge but we still get to choose and approve someone we deem responsible." While her voice was even, Opal's tone still left no room for argument.

Peach knew when it was useless to argue with the Headmistress, having dealt with her for long enough by now. All she could do was begrudgingly relent and sigh. "Fine, but no more biohazards. I'm guessing you already have someone in mind?"

Jaune couldn't help but grin ear to ear. "Oh I have the perfect person in mind."

* * *

 **AN: hope this was an okay chapter, I don't know how to feel about the way it turned out. I kept going over it and over it and over it. I won't make any promises to when the next chapter will be out, but it WILL be coming.**


End file.
